In December 2019, Microsoft announced Azure Heroes, a new digital badge rewards program utilizing blockchain technology. The program delivered limited-edition badges to 6,400 unique recipients. Beyond the metrics, the Microsoft team was thrilled by the deep and sustainable engagement they witnessed in their developer community. Taking this partnership forward, we are delighted to collaborate with Microsoft on the occasion of 6th International Day of Women and Girls in Science, with the Azure Space Mystery game—an educational initiative that awards special-edition digital badges powered by the Enjin Platform.
With an active, growing developer community, the Microsoft Azure team was seeking a unique way to meaningfully engage with and recognize Azure practitioners for their contributions.
To do this, they needed the capability to offer something authentic and provably limited.
From these conversations, the idea of Azure Heroes was born—a form of provable social currency that would incentivize learning and encourage positive behaviors in Azure developer communities.
The core concept of the program was simple: do good work, earn a digital badge.
These badges—style as badgers—are issued as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) via the Enjin Platform.
By creating blockchain-based badges, Microsoft is able to recognize the Azure developer community with verifiably scarce and publicly-visible rewards, giving deeper value to their contributions. The program recognizes achievements across categories such as inclusive leadership, open-source contributions, mentorship, content creation, green development, and more.
Since its initial launch as a pilot program in Western Europe, Azure Heroes has expanded globally, being used by Microsoft for various conferences, meetups, and initiatives, such as Microsoft Ignite, Create: Frontend, Create: Serverless, Hacktoberfest, and GreenConf.
Today, we are proud to collaborate with Microsoft on the next initiative utilizing Azure Heroes: the Azure Space Mystery, an interactive educational game that rewards participants with special-edition NFTs that can also be used in the beloved game Minecraft.
Azure Space Mystery
Innovation, diversity, and inclusion are core Microsoft values.
Today, the 6th International Day of Women & Girls in Science, the Azure Advocates and Community Advocacy teams are launching an initiative that combines these values with cutting-edge technology.
The Azure Space Mystery is an interactive, educational space exploration game that challenges participants to test their technical skills and solve code challenges utilizing the Microsoft Learn platform.
Building on the success of previous Azure Mystery games (Maya Mystery and Mystery Mansion), Space Mystery sends participants on a mission to save the International Space Station (ISS), getting help from prominent European female scientists along the way.
Upon completing the challenge, participants will receive an Enjin Beam QR code that delivers a custom Learner Badger NFT from the Azure Heroes collection.
While the Learner NFTs have infinite supply, the tokens received during this event will feature custom art that will never be available again.
This is made possible by a new special-edition token variant feature developed by Enjin, which allows Microsoft to create unique token art within the core Azure Heroes collection, without having to create new tokens for each event.
Not only do the Learner NFTs serve as a reward for completing the mission, they also provide a connection to the beloved world of Minecraft.
Upon completing the Azure Space Mystery, participants can take their Learner badge to the MyMetaverse Minecraft network, where they will have access to a sequel quest and an exclusive Heroes Hangout for Azure Heroes members, joined by famous scientists featured in the Space Mystery.
“Enjin’s platform powers innovative projects across the gaming and wider blockchain ecosystem. Our collaboration has allowed Microsoft Azure to integrate cutting-edge technology with educational tools and recognize the contributions of our developer communities around the world.”
— Sherry List, Microsoft Azure Developer Engagement Lead
This cross-game functionality is enabled by EnjinCraft, a Minecraft plugin that enables players to integrate blockchain-based assets into their servers.
Today, the plugin has been upgraded to support both fungible tokens and NFTs, allowing Microsoft’s Azure Heroes to be integrated into Minecraft for the first time.
The Azure Heroes Tech Stack
“We needed a programmatic way for multiple teams to be able to create, manage, and distribute assets to potentially thousands of end-users.”
Enjin Platform: Create & Integrate NFTs
At its core, the Azure Heroes program is built on the Enjin Platform, a software-as-a-service that allows Microsoft to mint NFTs via a simple web interface.
To date, over 32,000 badges have been created under the Azure Heroes collection.
EnjinX: Explore NFT Data
Verifiable proof was a key reason the Microsoft team decided to utilize blockchain for Azure Heroes.
To provide a seamless experience for searching and verifying the authenticity and scarcity of badges, we created a custom, Microsoft-branded version of our blockchain explorer: azureheroe.enjinx.io
Enjin Beam: Scan to Receive NFTs
With solutions for creation and verification, distribution was the next hurdle. How would Microsoft get their badgers in the hands of nominees and event attendees?
Enjin Beam, a QR-powered blockchain distribution service, allows Microsoft to distribute all of their NFTs for both individual nominations and large-scale events with thousands of attendees.
“We’re able to offer a rewarding token distribution and acquisition experience for Azure Heroes that end-users can participate in, while enjoying all the benefits of blockchain without the added complexity.”
— Sherry List
Like the Enjin Platform, Beam QR codes are generated via a simple web interface with just a few clicks.
Showcase Your Success Internationally with Azure Heroes.
In a community-driven program, Microsoft required a method to represent and attach their international neighborhoods of Azure Heroes program members while urging brand-new nominations and participation.
The Azure Heroes Display provides a visual representation of badges declared in countries across the globe.
To join the Display, users can opt-in by linking a social account (LinkedIn or Twitter) and linking the Enjin Budget app where their badgers are saved.
” I’m enjoyed have obtained these recognitions! The #AzureHeroes badge in the group of Inclusive Leadership got here in my inbox while I was volunteering in Vietnam. I was educated at an orphanage for children with special needs, so receiving this badge for Inclusive Leadership at that specific time truly meant a great deal to me. Getting this badge really feels like a recognition, along with inspiration for my future activities.”.
— Isidora Katanić, Voices of Azure.
Obtain physical swag with digital badges.
The Azure group often utilizes boodle at occasions, conferences, as well as meetups.
Amid an international pandemic where digital occasions have become the norm, exactly how would indeed Microsoft remain to incentivize their areas with physical boodle?
” Reveal Codes”– codes installed within NFTs– permitted Microsoft to give away vacation present plans to participants of the programmer community.
Using a newly-minted “Courier Badger,” the group arbitrarily chose participants of the area from the Showcase Web page, sending them NFTs that could be straight retrieved online for a presentation box.
Select Your Badger with the NFT Personalizer.
As a core worth of Microsoft, inclusivity was important to consider in both the badger design process and program all at once.
Alternative layouts were produced for a variety of symbols, with an in-app modification feature created. This permits customers to select the badger that best reflects their identity, right from their Enjin Wallet.
Enjin Wallet: Manage Your Badgers
The Enjin Pocketbook serves as an electronic knapsack for Azure Heroes, permitting individuals to store and manage their badgers securely.
To customize and enhance the customer experience for Microsoft, we added a Showcase web page switch so that customers can link right through their budget. We likewise implemented a pending token condition to guarantee that individuals see their assets in the application immediately, even before the transaction has been processed on the blockchain.
Proof of Token: Claim Additional Rewards
For community participants who get multiple badgers from the Azure Heroes collection, Microsoft looked for an automated means to supply them with additional benefits on occasions, such as boodle or tickets.
We created a “Proof of Token” system that allows users to verify their possession of certain NFTs by scanning an “Evidence” QR in the Enjin Purse.
Event coordinators easily select the properties needed for a specific advantage and produce an associated QR code via an internet interface. Upon checking the Proof QR, a customer’s inventory is instantly verified, so the occasion organizer can give them tickets, products, etc., based on their acquired NFTs.
Next-Gen Digital Experiences
Using the success and lessons learned through our recurring work with Azure Heroes, we construct a full-service pile that will undoubtedly allow venture clients like Microsoft to produce and release their own token economic situations rapidly.
By supplying the devices and solutions needed to harness this innovation easily, our objective is to aid organizations in locating cutting-edge new possibilities for advertising and marketing and neighborhood engagement and improving client retention and acquisition methods.
Suppose you’re interested in checking out equal opportunities and also services for your enterprise or job. In that case, we’d enjoy more information about it and welcome you to get in touch.
