Safe Zone: Help Inside the Game

Read the campaign story

Orange’s Safe Zone initiative placed telephone-booth-inspired spaces in participating Fortnite and Roblox environments. The D&AD archive describes two routes: an educational quiz and a button directing people affected by cyberbullying towards a qualified association. A January 2024 interview with Orange and Publicis Conseil dates the original launch to November 2022 and explains the choice to work within existing maps rather than expect players to visit a separate branded destination.

The interview identifies bem.builders as a development collaborator and discusses local help partners. D&AD credits Publicis Conseil and Prodigious Paris. These sources document a designed pathway, not a guarantee that every game session was safe or every visitor received effective support. Availability depended on the participating environment and the relevant country’s arrangements. Historical descriptions should not be treated as a current directory of emergency or counselling services.

Editorial interpretation: the communication uses a setting people already inhabit to reduce the distance between recognising a problem and finding a next step. The telephone-booth reference gives an abstract network brand a physical-looking role. But the metaphor can also overpromise. Calling an area safe does not establish confidentiality, moderation or protection from harassment elsewhere. Interface language must describe what the experience actually does.

The two routes serve different needs. A curious visitor may want to learn, while a distressed visitor may need assistance without completing an educational task. The service design should preserve that distinction. A successful quiz is not a prerequisite for deserving help. Nor should sensitive disclosures become material for retargeting, campaign storytelling or a public participation counter. The usefulness of the route depends on the receiving service as much as the creative entry point.

Keep support separate from the engagement mechanic

Design the help route so it is easy to find and does not require points, a quiz score or a public declaration. Test whether someone unfamiliar with the campaign can understand what happens next. An educational experience can be playful, but assistance should not be presented as a prize. Explain any limits in plain language and provide a way to leave the interaction without losing access to essential information.

Agree the handover before promoting the entrance

Work with the qualified receiving organisation to confirm scope, geography, accessibility and capacity. Clarify whether the route opens information, starts a conversation or merely points to another service. Review translations with people who understand the local context. A popular campaign can create demand that a partner cannot absorb, so the operational plan should include unavailable-service messages and a process for keeping guidance current.

Evaluate help-route quality without mining distress

Measure whether people can locate and understand the route using fictional scenarios and privacy-preserving research. Aggregate service information only under an appropriate agreement and avoid collecting incident details for marketing. Increased enquiries can reflect better awareness, greater need or both. Reduced enquiries can also have several explanations. Keep those interpretations open rather than treating either direction as automatic proof that the campaign solved cyberbullying.

A small test for another brief

A community platform tests a clearly labelled support-information panel with its existing safeguarding partner, using adult volunteers and fictional scenarios.

Measure route discovery, accurate expectation and successful navigation. Report these usability outcomes separately from any claim about reduced harm.

Pause if the destination is unavailable, users infer protections that do not exist or the design collects unnecessary sensitive information.

• Map the two routes separately and remove any reward requirement from the assistance route.
• Have the partner review wording, geography, accessibility and unavailable-service handling.
• Test comprehension without asking participants to disclose personal incidents.