• by Amy Corr  @MediaPostOTL, August 12, 2021

How do you celebrate your agency’s 20th anniversary when COVID-19 restrictions make large, in-person gatherings impossible? Throw an office celebration in Minecraft.

Toronto agency john st. turned 20, and large gatherings are still discouraged in Canada. This led the agency to go all out-- inside the popular Minecraft video game.

Minecraft gamers can find The Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, and172 John St., a full recreation of the agency building and everything indoors, including its 650-pound concrete reception bench and Doug, the elevator-riding dog.

The virtual recreation was made by Gamefruitpulp, a Toronto gamer and YouTuber who spent several years creating the Building Toronto Project, a 1:1 recreation of the city within Minecraft.

“From the initial conversations of ‘what should we do for our 20th?’ to the actual launch, it took about 2.5 months,” said Cher Campbell, Chief Creative Officer of john st. “But the actual Minecraft build itself came together really quickly — from documenting every inch of the building to the final build production, it was only 5 weeks. We were lucky to work with Gamefruitpulp. He was a true partner, working alongside our john st. gamer-heads to bring this to life.”

The Minecraft version of john st. was unveiled July 23 for a virtual get-together to celebrate the agency’s anniversary. Some staff members were hired during the pandemic, so this virtual rendition of john st. was their first time seeing the office.

The experience began with a Hall of Fame look at previous john st. work outside the building. Employees were welcomed inside by the agency’s receptionist, who sent them on gaming quests like putting out fires in the production department, picking up strategy department buzzwords, and finding hidden Easter eggs based on inside jokes.

The building will remain in Gamefruitpulp’s Toronto cityscape; the exterior exploration will remain open for several months to anyone with a Minecraft Java account.

"When the creative team hatched an inclusive idea that let us all celebrate as a family, we jumped on it,” added Campbell. “From there, we couldn't stop growing the world. Billboard museums. Easter eggs. Quests, levels, challenges. You name it, we built it. Then the Twitch livestream was icing on the birthday cake. Who knows? Maybe we'll be working from Minecraft from here on out. (Probably not, but maybe.)”