MANY years ago, breakfast cereal used to come with a nifty little treat inside the box – a plastic toy of some sort, maybe a collectible token, or even a literal game PC CD-ROM.
That last one was the centrepiece of a Microsoft PR campaign for Age of Empires back in 2002 and was the introduction to PC gaming for a lot of people. It’s still fondly remembered to this day, and Microsoft are playing off that nostalgia with their latest gaming promotion – Wolol-Os cereal.
Announced to tie in with the launch of Age of Empires IV, the cereal is named after the battle-cry of the priests in the original game and is actually a real foodstuff (in the sense it’s real cereal and you can eat it).
It’s not, however, on supermarket shelves – the only way to get one of these neat little nostalgic breakfast boxes is by liking and sharing the competition post on the Xbox ANZ Facebook page.
There are 10 boxes of Wolol-Os available as part of the giveaway, and in the spirit of the whole exercise they also come with a disc inside too – the soundtrack for Age of Empires II, along with 12 months of Game Pass for PC.
Xbox Australia/NZ business lead Tania Chee said they were well aware how popular the 2002 promotion was and wanted to recreate a pivotal moment for many gamers with the Wolol-Os promo.
“Receiving a CD in a cereal box all those years ago would have been the first gaming moment for many and kick-started a lifelong passion, so with the much-anticipated release of Age of Empires IV, we’re thrilled to be able to have a bit of fun with this throwback,” she said.
“Age of Empires IV is a brilliant game, and we can’t wait for fans to start playing and developing their civilisations.”
Age of Empires IV launches on October 28 for PC and will be available on Game Pass for PC at launch.