Isik Ulgenalp Art Director

ABOUT

For nearly a decade, Stranger Things fans have been piecing together Hawkins. From fan theories and Easter eggs to fan fiction and filming locations, they’ve tried to get closer to a world they’ve only ever seen on screen.

The Microsoft Flight Simulator x Stranger Things DLC promised a world-first: a 1:1 digital recreation of Hawkins. Finally, fans could visit the town they’d grown up with on TV.

But with a fiercely protective fanbase known for picking things apart, this had to feel like it truly belonged in Hawkins, circa 1986.

IDEA

Known for government cover-ups, missing persons and interdimensional horror, Hawkins is the last place you’d book a sightseeing tour. So, with the help of the Duffer Brothers, we did just that. Launching an in-universe travel agency: Hawkins Heli-Tours.

But we didn’t stop there. We gave fans their own Stranger Things conspiracy.

Piece by piece, audiences uncovered a covert smuggling operation masterminded by Murray Bauman, recruiting them to fly covert missions over Hawkins.

The campaign unfolded like a real Hawkins conspiracy. A 1980s-style tourism spot broadcast across social hid Mayday-style supers and a real Indiana phone number connecting fans directly to Murray Bauman, voiced by Brett Gelman. Staying on the line unlocked the passcode “SKY ARROW”, directing audiences towards a CompuServe-inspired microsite filled with mission briefings, intel drops, Game Pass access and clues pushing them deeper into the story.

In New York, Hawkins Heli-Tours was recreated physically at the Microsoft Experience Center, complete with analogue office interiors, hidden clues and a UH-1 helicopter simulator pulling fans directly into the game itself.

Meanwhile above Times Square, the Microsoft Cube became the world’s largest CRT monitor. Three pristine DOOH screens transformed into a single giant analogue artefact through VHS distortion, scanlines and CRT curvature.

From the hero film to the jingle to the OOH, every touchpoint followed one core principle: “Marketing like it’s 1986.”

The campaign ultimately expanded into the DLC itself, becoming a fully playable Hawkins Heli-Tours in-game mode complete with branded helicopter livery and missions voiced by Murray Bauman.

Transforming a DLC launch into a real chapter of Stranger Things audiences didn’t just watch, but stepped inside.

MADEIT CREDITS

  • MicrosoftClient
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