A new generation of fans can experience the music of pop icon Cher in the metaverse for a special nearly month-long event this holiday season on Roblox.
The event launches December 8 at 7 p.m. ET and will run through January 5, 2024 as a part of a collaboration between Warner Music Group and the metaverse game developer Gamefam. Cher will head to the music world in Roblox dubbed Harmony Hills, which will feature holiday-themed locations and virtual merchandise inspired by the singer. She will appear as a NPC (non-playable-character), greeting users when they enter the world, and players can access her wearable avatar merch by completing certain tasks.
Players will be able to hear Cher’s three new Christmas tracks featured in Holiday Hills: “Drop Top Sleigh Ride” with Tyga, “Angels in the Snow,” and “DJ Play a Christmas Song.” Cher, who first rose to fame in the ’60s, is best-known as the “Goddess of Pop,” producing top hits over the years like “Dark Lady,” “If I Could Turn Back Time,” and “Believe.” The 77-year-old typically has an older audience, which is why Gamefam and and Warner Records wanted to introduce her music in this specific setting.
“Cher is an everlasting, multi-generational superstar and, after seven decades, Cher continues to find innovative ways to connect with a new wave of fans…as Gen Z and Alpha turn away from traditional music consumption methods, there’s no better place to reach them than the metaverse gaming platform where they’re actively playing for 2.5 hours every day,” Alli Guglielmino, svp of Growth at Gamefam, told Billboard.
Roblox currently boasts 70 million daily active users. Previously, Gamefam and WMG teamed-up for a Super Bowl concert with Warner Records rapper Saweetie. The concert marked the highest-rated show on Roblox with a 96% player rating. This followed Bebe Rexha’s concert in July, which brought-in 8,300 concurrent users and 4.3 million unique visits.
Music within video games is not a new concept; in fact, virtual concerts within video games have been on-the-rise in recent years. Second Life first hosted a concert from The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in 2007 and U2 in 2008, and Minecraft held the virtual FireFest in 2019. Then, DJ Marshmello broke records when he held a virtual 10-minute set in Fortnite, bringing-in 10 million concurrent users. The Offspring, Korn, and Travis Scott followed suit.