Sabrina Carpenter will become the latest act to headline Fortnite Festival season eight, arriving in the online video game later today.

Launched in December 2023, Fortnite’s dedicated rhythm game Festival has featured several big-name acts, such as Billie Eilish, Metallica, Snoop Dogg and Lady Gaga.

While Fortnite itself is developed by Epic Games, the Festival game mode is developed by Harmonix – the studio behind the Rock Band video game franchise which was acquired by Epic in November 2021.

The game mode allows players to perform solo or in a band on the main stage, where they can play a rotation of “jam tracks”.

Chart-toppers like Please Please Please, Taste, Espresso and Feather will be available in the virtual Fortnite Shop

By unlocking the season eight Music Pass, fans will be able to play Sabrina Carpenter’s hits Juno and Nonsense as Jam Tracks. Her other chart-toppers like Please Please Please, Taste, Espresso and Feather will be available in the virtual Fortnite Shop.

Several cosmetic items will also be available for Sabrina Carpenter’s avatar, inspired by her Short N’ Sweet tour outfits. These include a yellow babydoll dress, an unlockable yellow bodysuit, a “tour-ready” outfit featuring boots and a pink skirt that’s available for purchase.

CAA-booked Carpenter recently wrapped up the European leg of her ‘Short n’ Sweet’ tour. She is due to return to the UK this summer for two massive headline shows at London’s BST Hyde Park in London on 5 and 6 July.

Clairo will support her at both gigs, with Beabadoobee set to play on 5 July and Olivia Dean supporting on 6 July.

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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.

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Gaming companies in Korea are launching in-person concerts featuring video game soundtracks.

Korea Bizwire reports that firms such as Nexon and Gravity are devising the events, which will enable gamers to attend orchestral and band performances of their favourite games.

Shows announced so far include the Tales Weaver The Orchestra concert, which will see songs from Nexon’s MMORPG Tales Weaver online game reproduced live by an orchestra and band, with tickets already on sale.

Elsewhere, Gravity is set to stage Ragnarok The Orchestra Concert at Seoul’s Mapo Art Center later this month.

“Offline performances related to game orchestras have been successfully held in the past”

“The concerts are considered to be another fun element of gaming for game lovers, and offline performances related to game orchestras have been successfully held in the past,” notes the publication.

Several gaming companies have organised game-themed classical performances since outdoor activities were permitted again in South Korea after being banned during the pandemic.

The country eased its coronavirus protocols and lifted its ban on clapping and cheering at gigs in April last year.

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Coachella is returning to Epic Games’ Fortnite with the official launch of Coachella Island for this weekend’s festival.

The Goldenvoice-promoted festival’s 2023 edition is scheduled for Indio, California from 14-16 and 21-23 April, headlined by Bad Bunny, Blackpink and Frank Ocean.

Starting at 3pm ET tomorrow (14 April), Coachella Island is billed as a new destination for creator-made music and art experiences, marking “a continuation of Fortnite and Coachella’s shared commitment to showcase, empower and reward artists”.

Inspired by the festival’s landscape, the “music-reactive” island has been built by creators from Alliance Studios and features desert mountains, polo fields, palm trees and day to night cycles.

Alongside virtual replicas of Coachella art installations including Spectra, the Coachella Ferris Wheel and balloon chains, the Art Park features two new art installations from Maggie West and Güvenç Özel, reimagined for the virtual world.

“The future of in-game music and art experiences should not mimic the real-world, but reimagine the magic and make it more accessible via a new medium”

Players will be able to explore the park, as well as take part in team vs. team minigames, and purchase 2023 Coachella-inspired Outfits and in-game items from the merch tent, accompanied by a soundscape by Coachella 2023 performer Porter Robinson.

The new Ask Me and Slide Stride Emotes, meanwhile, will feature music by Bad Bunny and Burna Boy. Players can also turn into Icon Radio in-game to enjoy songs from artists featured on Coachella’s 2023 line-up.

“The future of in-game music and art experiences should not mimic the real-world, but reimagine the magic and make it more accessible via a new medium,” says Sam Schoonover, innovation lead for Coachella. “We believe that the best way to do that is to enable and empower artists to show us the way. Just like the festival IRL is a stage for musicians, Coachella Island is now a canvas for gaming creators. Fortnite provides the tools needed to invite creators and fans to participate in this creative process.”

It was recently confirmed that, for the first time ever, YouTube will livestream performances from all six stages at Coachella on both weekends of the festival.

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Roblox has announced a wave of new hires, including former executives from Spotify and Meta, in a bid to “push the boundaries of creativity.”

Among the new hires is Karibi Dagogo-Jack, Spotify’s former head of music development. He joins the gaming platform as head of music partnerships, essentially taking over from Jon Vlassopulos who left in April.

Also new to the team is Todd Lichten, in the new role of head of entertainment partnerships. He joined the gaming platform last month after leaving his role as head of emerging content at Meta. Prior to that, he spent over three years at Facebook.

The two appointments are part of a revamped partnerships team, made up of Winnie Burke as head of fashion & beauty partnerships, Hayden Walling as head of sports partnerships, and Arvind Jayaram as head of account management, partnerships.

These new hires come as Roblox continues to expand its ambitions, with collaborations with artists, brands and platforms like Spotify.

“Our partnership work continues to accelerate as they experiment with new formats and discover new revenue streams”

“We’ve seen a lot of success with top brands coming onto the Roblox platform, and our partnership work continues to accelerate as they experiment with new formats, launch persistent social spaces, discover new revenue streams, and push the boundaries of creativity,” says Roblox’s VP of global partnerships, Christina Wootton.

“The growth in the number of persistent experiences especially signifies long-term commitment and showcases that brands view our platform as the next-generation immersive social place for ongoing community engagement vs. a place for one-time activations.”

In recent months, Roblox has launched a Spotify Island featuring virtual performances from the likes of Charli XCX, Lizzo and Gayle.

Artists including Lil Nas X, Twenty One Pilots, 24kGoldn, Royal Blood, David Guetta and Ava Max have delivered virtual performances on the platform.

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Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings is reportedly planning to acquire gaming smartphone manufacturer Black Shark in a move that could help the company build its own metaverse.

If the acquisition goes ahead, Black Shark will shift its business focus from gaming mobile phones to virtual reality hardware, according to a report from news outlet 36kr.

Black Shark, which has a presence in China, Europe and south Asia, is currently majority-owned by technology giant Xiaomi.

As noted by Bloomberg in November, making a play for the metaverse is a logical step for Tencent.

The company already owns a stake in video game company Epic Games – the maker of Fortnite which has hosted virtual concerts from the likes of  Travis Scott, Ariana Grande, Marshmello, Steve Aoki, Deadmau5, Easy Life and J. Balvin.

Tencent Holdings invested $330 million in Epic Games in 2012 (around five years before Fortnite was released) in return for a 40% stake.

“We felt that we have a lot of tech and capability building blocks that will allow us to approach the Metaverse opportunities”

The company also entered into a strategic partnership with Roblox, in May 2019, in which Tencent holds a 49% stake. Last year, Tencent filed for two Metaverse-related trademarks.

Tencent president Martin Lau spoke about the company’s positioning to build a metaverse during the company’s Q3 earnings call in November: “In terms of our capabilities and our positioning, we felt we actually have a lot of the technology and know-how building blocks for us to explore and develop for the Metaverse opportunity”.

He continued: “For example, we have a lot of gaming experiences. We also have very strong social networking experience. In addition to that, in terms of technology building blocks, we have engine capability, we have AI capability, we have the capability to build large server architecture that can serve a huge number of concurrent users.”

Tencent has stiff competition from other tech giants in a race to build the metaverse – namely from Meta (formerly known as Facebook).

The company announced plans in October 2021 to hire 10,000 people to accelerate its development of a metaverse but it has promised to collaborate, adding, “it won’t be built overnight by a single company”.

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Epic Games has acquired Rock Band and Guitar Hero creator Harmonix “to create musical journeys and gameplay for Fortnite”.

The acquisition, details of which were not disclosed, was announced yesterday (24 November) in a blog post on the Harmonix website, which read:

“Over the last 26 years, we have pushed ourselves to redefine how people experience and interact with music. From the earliest days of The Axe to Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Dance Central, our VR titles, Fuser, and everything in between, we have aspired to redefine what a music game can be.

“Now, we’ll be working with Epic to once again challenge expectations as we bring our unique brand of musical gaming experiences to the Metaverse, and we couldn’t be more excited.”

Epic – which is backed by Sony Corp and carries a US$28 billion+ valuation – says that, as it works “to build the metaverse”, the Harmonix team’s “expertise is needed to reimagine how music is experienced, created and distributed”.

“Together we will transform how players experience music, going from passive listeners to active participants”

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. According to the company, acquiring Harmonix fits into that musical focus.

“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 in a statement. “Together with the Harmonix team, we will transform how players experience music, going from passive listeners to active participants.”

Boston-based Harmonix was founded in 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy and was bought by Viacom/MTV in 2006 for US$175 million.

Four years later, Viacom sold Harmonix to Harmonix-SBE Holdings LLC, an affiliate of Columbus Nova, LLC.

In 2007, Harmonix launched the Rockband franchise which exceeded a billion dollars in revenues by 2009 and secured a major coup with the development and release of The Beatles: Rock Band game, described by The New York Times at the time as “the most important video game yet made”.

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Roblox, the family-friendly social videogaming platform, has announced a virtual album launch party for YouTube star and professional boxer, KSI.

Organised in partnership with BMG, Proper Loud, and MBA Live, the launch party will see KSI perform songs from his chart-topping debut album ‘All Over The Place’ under a virtual London Eye on a boxing ring themed dance floor.

Roblox users will be able to jump into cars and race each other through the streets of London before the performance and afterwards, they’ll be able to hang out and live chat with KSI during a VIP rooftop after-party. Exclusive virtual merchandise will be available to fans during the experience.

KSI’s first performance starts on Friday 13 August at 16:00 PDT with encore performances hourly over the weekend.

The VIP after-party experience for fans, including an exclusive virtual Q&A, will take place on Saturday 14 August on the Roblox platform.

“We are delighted to be hosting the chart-topping and multi-talented KSI’s first launch party on Roblox in partnership with BMG,” said Jon Vlassopulos, vice president and global head of music for Roblox.

“Roblox provided the perfect platform to immerse fans in the world of KSI, bringing to life his persona with an avatar”

“I can’t wait to race around London and join the exclusive VIP after-party that will connect KSI with fans from all corners of the globe, this is a great example of how Roblox launch parties bring together millions of fans in personal, engaging, interactive, and immersive ways.”

Christopher Ludwig, BMG VP global digital partnerships and strategy, added: “At BMG, our approach is to look at things from the artist’s perspective. For KSI, this means being at the cutting edge of technology and remaining authentic and raw to reach his global, digital-native audience where they are.

“Roblox provided the perfect platform to immerse fans in the world of KSI, bringing to life his persona with a photo-realistic avatar and building a space to spotlight his talent and passions. We’re delighted to kick off our partnership with Roblox through this first activation and bring global fans into the KSI experience.”

President of Proper Loud and manager of KSI, Mams Taylor, says: “We are thrilled to be teaming up with Roblox. It’s a great creative opportunity for team KSI and Roblox to do something unique and crossover both audiences, showcasing KSI’s music and Roblox’s awesome and fun platform.”

KSI joins Lil Nas X, Royal Blood, Ava Max and more in partnering with the online gaming platform.

Roblox’s vice president and global head of music previously told IQ that he plans to grow Roblox’s music offering significantly “so music becomes an organic part of the users’ daily experience”. Read the full interview here.

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UTA has appointed Geoff Sawyer as an agent in the video games division to foster collaborations between the agency’s music clients and the gaming industry.

He joins UTA from Red Bull where he was director of global music services and oversaw the team responsible for music solutions for the entire company.

Prior to that, Sawyer was director of licensing and creative partnerships at Beyond Marketing Group, where he negotiated and managed brand partnerships between Toyota and artists such as Slayer, Steve Aoki and Joey Bada$$.

With his new position, Sawyer will be based in LA and will report to UTA partner and head of video games, Ophir Lupu.

“The line separating gaming and the entertainment industry is disappearing completely”

“Geoff has an unparalleled reputation for facilitating successful connections between recording artists, brands and media networks,” says Lupu.

“As gaming continues to cement itself as a critical component of pop culture, we believe that the number of meaningful collaborations for musicians will continue to increase and Geoff’s expertise will be invaluable in finding these new opportunities for our clients. We are thrilled to welcome him to UTA.”

Sawyer says: “The line separating gaming and the entertainment industry is disappearing completely. And the symbiotic relationship between games and music stands to deepen greatly as technology advances and audiences converge. I am elated to join the legendary team at UTA and to serve our incredible music clients with opportunities previously unconceived.”

Within the music-gaming sphere, UTA has helped negotiate Marshmello’s performance in Fortnite; Dominic Fike’s appearance in the first edition of Fortnite‘s ‘Spotlight’ Party Royale in-game concert series and Post Malone’s headline slot for Pokémon’s 25th anniversary virtual concert celebration.

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Lil Nas X has garnered over 35 million visits for his in-game performance in Roblox, marking a hugely successful debut concert for the online gaming platform.

The double Grammy award-winning rapper behind worldwide smash ‘Old Town Road’ delivered a free-to-access concert experience which was aired three times across the weekend (14 and 15 November).

The in-game performance featured a set of stages inspired by Lil Nas X’s songs and videos – created using the latest shadowing, lighting and physically based rendering (PBR) facial recognition technologies available on the Roblox platform – and was preceded by a Q&A with fans.

The show, which took place in partnership with Nas’s label, Columbia Records, rivalled Travis Scott’s record-breaking in-game concert in Fortnite in April.

The in-game performance featured a set of stages inspired by Lil Nas X’s songs and videos and was preceded by a Q&A

According to developer Epic Games, the premiere of Astronomical drew more than 12 million players and across five shows and two encores – four more showings than Nas’s Roblox concert – is believed to have attracted around 45.8 million viewers.

Scott’s record-breaking feat trumped Marshmello’s 2019 Fortnite concert which saw 10 million players tune in to watch the electronic music star’s in-game performance. Both Fortnite concerts were free to access.

Other notable videogame shows this year include J Balvin in Fortnite, Gorillaz and Beck in Animal Crossing and several festivals in Minecraft, while 2019 saw Korn play AdventureQuest and the Offspring World of Tanks, among others.

While Nas’s concert was Roblox’s first, the platform’s existing moves in the music space include a partnership with dance music label Monstercat and a recent album release party for singer Ava Max which was attended by 1.2m players.

Roblox is a collection of more than 50 million user-created video games (sometimes compared to YouTube, but for games rather than videos). The platform’s popularity has exploded this year, particularly among children, and now boasts more than 150m monthly users.

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