Firefox recently celebrated its 21st anniversary, marking two decades of fostering a web that embodies creativity, independence, and trust. At TwitchCon, a celebration involved launching billionaires into space and introducing a new card game, Data War.
Billionaire Blast Off began with a simple premise: sending billionaires into space for entertainment. With Data War, the game offers a fun and often chaotic experience where players compete to win a one-way ticket to space for a data-hungry billionaire. Many attendees at TwitchCon had a blast playing it.
You can download your own physical deck of Data War here, and now the chaos comes to your browser. The digital version of Data War is now free to play right online.
From convention floor to your screen
During TwitchCon, visitors packed tables to duel it out, shouting “Data Grab!” and swapping decks mid-game as billionaires blasted off into orbit. The new online version brings that same energy to everyone.
TwitchCon attendees playing Data War
“If you laugh at something, you have power over it,” said Dave Rowley, Executive Creative Director at Mondo Robot, Firefox’s partner behind Data War. “The approach taken was applying absurdity as a cathartic device wherever possible. That allowed for balancing the realities of billionaires profiting off user data with a sort of reductive sarcasm, creating an outlet for frustration that lets players reclaim some control through a genuinely fun and accessible play experience.”
How it started and evolved
Rowley worked with the Firefox team to design Data War to be instantly learnable and endlessly chaotic. Think War meets Exploding Kittens: data is currency, billionaires are unpredictable and Firefox shows up to remind players they are the ones who really are in control.
To bring Firefox’s perspective into the game’s creation, the team invited people who actually build Firefox to get involved. One of them was Philip Luk, Firefox’s Director of Engineering, who playtested early versions of the physical game with his teenage kids. Their feedback helped shape Data War into something more dynamic than classic War.
“The game aims to spotlight how big tech companies and their billionaire owners profit from user data,” said Philip Luk, Firefox Director of Engineering. “Ideas were contributed by his kids and himself for new cards that add different strategic twists, making it more than just flipping cards – it’s about reacting, laughing, and watching the chaos unfold.”
“Playtesting with his teens helped identify areas where the game could be made more unpredictable and fun,” Luk added. “Those moments of surprise are what made the game engaging.”
After TwitchCon, the team set out to create a digital version of Data War. A lighter, browser-based game that keeps the spirit of chaos and humor but can be played in quick bursts anytime.
“The aim was to design a digital version of Data War that anyone could play whenever a quick break was needed,” said Benton Persons, Marketing Partnerships and Activations Lead at Mozilla. “That’s what Firefox is all about, taking the stress out of being online because users are in control of their experience. And really, who doesn’t want to launch little billionaires into space between meetings?”
Built for fun, powered by values
Every match is a reminder of the absurd things billionaires and Big Tech do to profit from your personal data.
But it’s also a reminder that players are the ones in control and ultimately launch those billionaires into space.
“The goal was simple: make Data War just as chaotic and fun in a browser as it is on a table. Rules were streamlined, and digital-only moments like animations, fast turns, and story hits, such as the Data Grab minigame and Billionaire Blast Off win sequences, were added to keep every round feeling fresh, even when playing solo,” said Rowley. “When the table erupts in laughter, that’s when a win is truly felt.”
