PLAYABLE PLACES

Updated with a new fly-through video of the “Game-ready-version” of Norrköping and a page about the concept Playable Places as well as our next project Twintopia (scenario-based games based on digital twins and AI agents).

What if a city could be more than just mapped — what if it could be played?

That’s the question we set out to explore and which resulted in Playable Places, an innovation project investigating how a photogrammetry-based digital twin can be made interactive, accessible, and game-ready for platforms like Fortnite.

In collaboration with Linköping University, Norrköping Municipality, and with partial funding from Visual Sweden, TOMLIN STUDIO has developed a prototype workflow for bringing real-world urban data into Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) — one of the world’s largest social gaming platforms.

A Research-Driven Exploration

This was not about building a finished game.

Instead, Playable Places focused on testing, validating, and documenting:

• Whether a real digital twin (based on drone data and photogrammetry) could be implemented in Fortnite

• What technical limitations exist when importing mesh, textures, and geo-accurate data into UEFN

• How a game-ready template can be structured for further development by students, researchers, or municipalities

• What gameplay elements — such as flying mechanics, collectables, or obstacle courses — can be layered on top of the digital twin

• Whether this method can evolve into a commercially viable service or product offering

The result is a game-ready place based on Norrköping’s historic industrial landscape — not as a final game, but as a modular foundation. The kind of environment that could be used in a game jam, university course, or local activation to spark innovation and community engagement.

Why Make Cities Playable?

Because digital twins don’t need to stay locked in planning tools or only available to a few at specific physical spaces.

By transforming them into interactive spaces, cities can open up to:

• Student-led innovation in visualization and game design

• Public engagement through playful exploration

• Game jams and creative experimentation

• Immersive storytelling and city branding

Making a digital twin playable doesn’t mean turning it into a full game — it means creating a new layer of access, interpretation, and imagination.

Below you’ll find some images both from the environment, the “Game-ready Place” of Norrköping, and from a few gameplay examples we used in the prototype:

A Scalable Method for the Future

Out of this research project, we have developed two clear service paths for future collaborations:

1. Game-Ready Place
Adapt your existing digital twin into an optimised, explorable template — either for Unreal Engine or UEFN/Fortnite. Ideal for innovation environments, labs, or local game jams.

2. Playable-Place Game
In future commissioned work, we can help co-create a fully interactive experience — including gameplay mechanics, testing, publishing support, and community activation.

What’s Next?

The prototype we created for Norrköping is just the beginning.
We hope it inspires other cities to see the potential in activating their digital twins — not just for interactive simulation in more playful settings, but for public play and creative use.

Our team is currently exploring further development and welcomes new collaborations with other municipalities, researchers, and innovators.

Get in touch: linda@tomlinstudio.com

Project by TOMLIN STUDIO
Supported by Visual Sweden
In collaboration with Linköping University
Digital twin provided and owned by Norrköping Municipality