Roku City is the name given to a screensaver present on Roku streaming devices. The looping background depicts a virtual metropolis at night, colored by hues of magenta and blue.
Background
editThe screensaver depicts a slowly looping city street in the foreground, composed of businesses, a diner, a movie theater, and a city hall. Across a body of water in the background sits a silhouette of skyscrapers and buildings, with unusual amounts of chaos: volcanoes, a spaceship, a robot monster, and more. The complimentary color scheme is prominently composed of pink and purple hues. The scene changes with the seasons; in the autumn months, trees change colors. The illustration contains easter eggs[1] of various films and characters, including King Kong[2] andThe Wizard of Oz,[3] and more.
The illustrations were created by Kyle Jones,[4] a freelance graphic artist, who took inspiration from art deco architecture to design the city. The name of the background known internally at Roku was City Scroll: Movie Magic, and it debuted in 2018.[5]
Advertising
editIt slowly began adding advertising to the city through branded partnerships in 2023,[6] including with McDonald's,[7] Paramount+,[8] and Disney.[9] Roku built a real life, pop-up display of Roku City for the 2023 SXSW festival.[10]
Reception
editAs Roku became a popular player in the streaming space, the ubiquity of Roku City gave rise to semi-ironic fascination among users, and it became the focus of memes.[3] Olivia Craighead of Gawker wrote: "Roku City haunts me. What would it be like to live in such a place, where there is peace in one borough while just a river away there is mass hysteria and a giant robot is terrorizing the masses."[11] Roku's internal team observed an uptick in attention at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when most people stayed home and nightlife was nonexistent.[5]
Its widespread usage has been considered unprecedented. Luke Winkie at The New York Times wrote: "Roku has become the unlikely venue for a massive public art experiment. Due to the size of the company’s customer base, countless homes peer into Roku City every weeknight."[5]
References
edit- ^ Herren., Parker (May 2, 2023). "Roku brings McDonald's to Roku City as part of new ad format". Ad Age. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ Weprin, Alex (May 2, 2023). "Coming Soon to Roku City: Brand Advertisers". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ a b Rossen, Jake (November 9, 2022). "The Easter-Egg-Filled 'Roku City' Screen Saver Has Its Own Fandom". Mental Floss. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ "Rⲟku Screensaver – Kyle Jones". Kyle Jones – Studio. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ a b c Winkie, Luke (November 2, 2022). "The Story Behind the Roku Screen Saver". The New York Times. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ Weprin, Alex (May 2, 2023). "Coming Soon to Roku City: Brand Advertisers". Yahoo Entertainment. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ Walker, Rob (July 28, 2023). "Why is Roku's stock soaring? Take a look at Roku City". Fast Company. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ Winslow, George (May 24, 2023). "Paramount+ Launches Custom Roku City Neighborhood". TVTechnology. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ Weprin, Alex (December 18, 2023). "Cinderella's Castle From Disney World Set to Take Over Roku City (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ "Roku". Roku. November 28, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
- ^ Craighead, Olivia (August 18, 2021). "Take Me Down to the Roku City". gawker.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2024.