Last year, Marshmello broke the record for the highest number of people watching a virtual concert inside a video game at the same time, paving the way for other musicians. Now, that record has been topped by Travis Scott’s Fortnite concert.
On Thursday, Scott performed a live set inside the battle royale video game Fortnite, presented by developer Epic Games. During the show, 12 million players were in attendance, with many more expected to be watching through other streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube. During the virtual concert, players were able to gather among one another in front of the virtual stage while the rapper performed “Highest in the Room” and “Sicko Mode.” Five minutes within the concert, Scott appeared as a giant, overlooking the landscape.
The 10-minute performance wrapped-up with a new track dubbed “The Scotts” with Kid Cudi. Players were able to collect special memorabilia like Scott-related skins for their characters or the flaming microphone stand. Following the original set, the concert streamed again inside the game on Friday and Saturday.
“Honestly today was one of the most inspiring days,” Scott tweeted following the premier on Thursday night. “Love every single one of u guys. And I know times are weird for us. But for one moment to be able to have the ragers to rage where ever you are is amazing.”
Virtual concerts are not particularly new; back in 2007, The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic hosted a concert in Second Life, followed by U2 in 2008. Minecraft continued with the virtual Coalchella in 2018 and FireFest in 2019. However, it wasn’t until February 2019 that Marshmello did something groundbreaking — millions of people’s avatars were connected during a massive, live-scale concert within Fortnite. An estimated 10 million concurrent users attended the event, presenting a new era of shows.
Since the original Marshmello show, rock group The Offspring performed a virtual concert inside the game World of Tanks, and the metalheads of Korn took the virtual stage inside AdventureQuest. As the world heads into a more digital direction – and as people are told to stay home during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic – other virtual shows are likely to pop-up.
