Sign up for IQ Index
The latest industry news to your inbox.
Online video game Fortnite has confirmed The Weeknd as the first headlining act for its new Festival game mode.
“Fortnite Festival is a new music game where players can play in a band with friends or perform solo on stage with hit music by their favourite artists,” according to a release.
Launching on 9 December, the game will be the first entirely music-focused mode to be introduced to the hugely popular, six-year-old Battle Royale game.
While Fortnite itself is developed by Epic Games, the Festival game mode is being developed by Harmonix – the studio behind the Rock Band video game franchise.
Fortnite last month experienced the biggest day in the game’s history with over 44.7 million players logging on
It was reported in November 2021 that Epic had acquired Harmonix to develop Fortnite experiences.
Music has become an increasing focus for Epic, following the success of virtual concerts inside of Fortnite from the likes of Travis Scott, Ariana Grande, Marshmello, Travis Scott, Steve Aoki, Deadmau5, Easy Life and J. Balvin.
“Music is already bringing millions of people together in Fortnite, from our emotes to global concerts and events,” Alain Tascan, Epic’s VP of game development, said of acquiring Harmonix.
In April this year, Coachella returned to Fortnite with a new virtual world called Coachella Island, along with mini-games, art installations, festival-themed merch, and virtual recreations of the festival’s hallmarks such as the ferris wheel.
Epic last month experienced the biggest day in the game’s history with over 44.7 million players logging on and 102 million hours of play for the launch of Fortnite OG, featuring the game’s original map.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.