The annual Red Bull Wololo esports tournament has just made its London debut with help from brand experience agency We Are Collider. The 2026 Wololo edition – a pinnacle of the diehard gamer’s year – was the biggest yet, and included a bespoke musical rearrangement of the Age of Empires soundtrack, as played at The Royal Albert Hall by a 63-piece orchestra that included a 9,999 pipe organ.
Red Bull Wololo is the leading esport tournament for Age of Empires, Microsoft’s legendary series of historical real-time strategy (RTS) video games. To create a never-before-experienced feel and seal the tournament’s reputation as a major gaming event, We Are Collider devised the unusual strategy of deploying a narrative theme for this year’s event: every part of the tournament was reimagined as a nautical voyage in the style of a Roman journey to Londinium.
The competition opened on 1 April with filming of qualifying rounds at Shoreditch’s White Rabbit Studio. The next stage of quarter and semi-finals comprised a live audience event at Leicester Square’s Luxe Cinema (home of the British film premiere) with Red Bull’s Soho offices doubling as player lounges. The all-important final entertained a sell-out audience of thousands at the iconic Royal Albert Hall.
The opening qualifiers featured a 360° immersive set that simulated the interior of the game’s ancient ship hull. The ship’s bridge provided the backdrop to the quarter and semi-finals. And the Royal Albert Hall was transformed into a cinematic Londinium set for the final that featured the exclusive orchestral rearrangement.
The tournament saw famous players such as Hera (the reigning champion), Liereyy and ACCM gather from across the globe. In keeping with the theme, each player dressed in period costume. The near week-long event was presented to a global livestream audience by gaming personalities including MembTV, Nili, and Soe. The entire tournament was filmed across all venues with over 60-hours of content being livestreamed in multiple languages.
As the official event organiser, We Are Collider was responsible for developing creative concepts, brand identity, player and crew management, production across all venues, broadcast facilitation and all set design. The agency has previously collaborated with Red Bull on the brand’s League of Its Own event in Munich, Home Kumite in New York and Wololo Heidelberg.
We Are Collider’s CEO and Founder, Anton Jerges, said: “It’s not easy to deliver on a ‘make it even bigger and better’ brief when the previous events have already pushed the envelope. But we love a challenge and relished the opportunity to turn this year’s Wololo into a hybrid cultural moment that saw gaming enter establishment institutions like the Royal Albert Hall. There’s something very magical about mixing different worlds while retaining gaming authenticity.”
