The Weeknd to headline Fortnite Festival game mode
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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Kiss to live on as virtual band after final gig
Kiss gave a glimpse into their future as a virtual band at their “final ever” concert after unveiling digital avatars created by the team behind ABBA Voyage.
The American rock icons debuted the technology during the encore of their retirement show at New York’s Madison Square Garden on 2 December, which was livestreamed worldwide on pay-per-view.
Their 8ft “superhero” avatars – Demon, Starchild, Catman and Spaceman – were designed by George Lucas’ San Francisco-based Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and financed by Pophouse Entertainment, which was co-founded by ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus.
“This is the sneak peek as the band crosses over from the physical world to the digital,” Grady Cofer, visual effects supervisor at ILM, tells Fast Company. “We want to give fans a sense of the many forms this band could take in the future.”
In a video posted in the wake of Saturday’s swansong, Kiss singer Paul Stanley said: “The band will never stop because we don’t own the band. The fans own the band, the world owns the band.”
“We can be forever young and forever iconic by taking us to places we’ve never dreamt of before”
“We can be forever young and forever iconic by taking us to places we’ve never dreamt of before,” added bassist Gene Simmons. “The technology is going to make Paul jump higher than he’s ever done before.”
While Thierry Coup, ex-chief creative officer at Universal Destinations & Experiences, has been hired as the virtual show’s creative director, Pophouse CEO Per Sundin says where it goes from here is yet to be finalised.
“We’re going to figure it out after the tour,” says Sundin. “Is it a Kiss concert in the future? Is it a rock opera? Is it a musical? A story, an adventure?”
The 50-year-old band’s longtime manager Doc McGhee hinted at the avatar plans in a career-spanning interview with IQ earlier this year.
“2024 will bring something new and something that the business has never seen before,” he said. “Everybody should really look forward to what is going to come. With the technology that we have, I think you’re going to see this manifest into something completely crazy – a mind-blowing experience.”
“If you are an artist, you can create your legacy in a way you never could before”
Kiss, who initially announced their retirement in 2000, began their 250-show End of the Road Tour in Vancouver, Canada in January 2019. The group will also live on through other ventures including a Las Vegas museum, cruises, and a forthcoming movie and cartoon.
The smash-hit ABBA Voyage virtual concert residency has created a new model for legendary artists since debuting to widespread acclaim in 2022, reportedly grossing more than $2 million (€1.6m) a week.
Held at the purpose-built 3,000-cap ‘ABBA Arena’ at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park under the direction of producers Svana Gisla and Ludvig Andersson and director Baillie Walsh, the £140m (€164m) show has brought the Swedish group back to the stage in avatar form, supported by a 10-piece live band.
According to Bloomberg, ABBA Voyage has achieved a 99% occupancy rate with an average ticket price of around £85 (€100) and discussions have taken place to expand the production to cities including Las Vegas, New York, Singapore and Sydney,
“If you are an artist, you can create your legacy in a way you never could before,” said Sundin. “This is such a success. We already have been talking to some artists that really want to do this.”
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ABBA Voyage takings ‘more than $2m a week’
The smash-hit ABBA Voyage virtual concert residency has created a new model for ageing legends after grossing more than $2 million (€1.87m) a week, according to a new report.
Held at the purpose-built 3,000-cap ‘ABBA Arena’ under the direction of producers Svana Gisla and Ludvig Andersson and director Baillie Walsh, the show debuted at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in May 2022 to universal acclaim.
One of the most expensive productions in music history, the £140m (€164m) show has brought the Swedish group – Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus (co-founder of lead investor Pophouse Entertainment), Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad – back to the stage in avatar form, supported by a 10-piece live band.
ABBA Arena is designed to fit 1,650 seats and space for a standing audience of 1,350. According to Bloomberg, the residency has already generated upwards of €140m in sales after selling over 1.5 million tickets, achieving a 99% occupancy rate with an average ticket price of around £85 (€100).
Discussions are reportedly taking place to expand ABBA Voyage to cities including Las Vegas, New York, Singapore and Sydney, and Pophouse CEO Per Sundin says other icons have expressed interest in developing similar productions.
“If you are an artist, you can create your legacy in a way you never could before”
“If you are an artist, you can create your legacy in a way you never could before,” Sundin tells Bloomberg. “This is such a success. We already have been talking to some artists that really want to do this.
“ABBA has done it again. They were early to music videos, they were early to jukebox musicals.”
The four members of ABBA spent five weeks being filmed by 160 cameras for motion capture as they performed the 22 songs that make up the show’s 95-minute runtime. Other key team members include co-executive producer Johan Renck, choreographer Wayne McGregor and AV tech specialist Solotech UK, led by director of special projects Ian “Woody” Woodall.
Speaking to IQ last year, Ludvig Andersson (son of Benny) said the show was six years in the making.
“An idea came to the Stockholm office of ABBA that it might be possible to create digital versions of themselves, and that’s basically how it started,” he said. “Then followed three years of research and development: a lot of conversations around tables in different cities, with different people about what can and cannot be done. Slowly, slowly through that process, we ended up with the idea that became what it is today.”
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The Rolling Stones to livestream star-studded 2012 gig
The Rolling Stones have announced details of a virtual concert event to celebrate the release of their new ‘GRRR Live!’ live album.
Earlier this month the band announced the new live album, which celebrates a special live show from their 50th-anniversary tour ’50 and Counting’ that happened a decade ago.
The show, which took place in December 2012 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, was originally broadcast as the pay-per-view event The Rolling Stones: One More Shot.
‘GRRR Live!’ was described as “the definitive concert film, recorded on one of the most memorable shows in the band’s history”
It has now been re-mixed and re-edited for a new release, which will be released as a triple-album vinyl and a double-album CD. ‘GRRR Live!’ will also be released on DVD and Blu-Ray.
The show was notable for its long list of special guests, which included Lady Gaga, The Black Keys, Bruce Springsteen, John Mayer and Gary Clark, Jr.
On 2 February 2023 the entire show will be broadcast online via live stream company Kiswe, marking the first time that it’ll be available to watch in more than a decade.
In a statement shared to social media, ‘GRRR Live!’ was described as “the definitive concert film, recorded on one of the most memorable shows in the band’s history”.
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First concert announced for Africa’s metaverse
Africa’s largest mobile network operator MTN Group has announced it will host the first virtual concert in the continent’s metaverse, Ubuntuland.
The event will be held on 30 November in partnership with talent search programme The Mic: Africa.
Earlier this year, MTN Group became the first African company to purchase land in Ubuntuland with a vision to create dedicated environments for creating unique immersive experiences for its customers.
“The MTN Group’s presence in the African metaverse will be known as altMTN,” says Bernice Samuels, MTN Group executive, group marketing. “altMTN allows us to further support our ambition to lead digital platforms and support African innovation, and will, over time feature live events, shopping, gaming and learning.
“The metaverse holds a wide array of opportunities to further enhance and showcase African innovation”
“To welcome everyone to altMTN, we will leverage our partnership with The Mic: Africa to host Africa’s first virtual music concert in the metaverse to drive awareness and adoption of this new space.”
MTN will be running a competition for its launch event, giving customers a chance to win exclusive tickets to the concert.
“Many people still see the virtual worlds and environments as confusing and inaccessible, and so we are very proud to bring the altMTN experience to market in a way that can be accessed via mobile, tablet, PC or VR handset” adds Samuels. “We believe that by tapping into a key passion on the continent, namely music, we can actively draw our customers into the environment to not only experience it first-hand, but also to help us to improve altMTN as this developing technology increasingly interconnects and matures, to unlock the full benefits for our customers.
“The metaverse holds a wide array of opportunities to further enhance and showcase African innovation and we are excited to be pioneers of this journey on the continent.”
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The Chainsmokers launch metaverse world on Roblox
The Chainsmokers are hosting an exclusive virtual concert to celebrate the launch of persistent metaverse world Festival Tycoon on online gaming platform Roblox.
The fully motion-captured performance will start on Friday 9 September at 4pm PT, and will be repeated every hour on the hour throughout the weekend, up to the last showing at 11pm ET on Sunday.
The US duo – Drew Taggart and Alex Pall – are set to perform a five-song set with hits from their So Far So Good album, with each song “transporting fans within its own interactive environment”.
Described as “the first persistent, 24/7, 365 days a year, progression-based artist experience on Roblox”, Festival Tycoon will invite fans to learn the intricacies that go into a festival by unlocking items such as stage design, lighting, lounges, pyrotechnics, merch booths, and music, to build their own stages, campsites, VIP areas, amusement park rides and helipads. Users can also perform on stage virtually alongside The Chainsmokers and other music acts.
“We developed both a concert and a game that allows users to not only watch the concert but create their own music festival”
The experience has been created by one of the leading Roblox developers, Gamefam, alongside the tentpole concert event, marking the first time a concert experience will extend beyond the concert itself and be used to support a persistent Roblox music world.
“Delivering an authentic experience to both a Chainsmokers fan and an avid Roblox user is what Gamefam does best,” says Gamefam CEO Joe Ferencz. “In partnership with the Chainsmokers and our team of citizen creators we developed both a concert and a game that allows users to not only watch the concert but create their own music festival. The result is a first-of-its-kind experience that can reach a massive audience around the world.”
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.
Roblox has also made a wave of recent hires, including former executives from Spotify and Meta, in a bid to “push the boundaries of creativity.”
Meanwhile, earlier this summer, it was revealed The Chainsmokers are set to become the first music act to perform at the edge of space after signing up for one of space tourism company World View’s inaugural flights, planned for 2024.
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Metaverse Music Festival launches in South Korea
Korea’s leading mobile operator SK Telecom has launched the world’s first live virtual concert to use volumetric image capture technology.
The Metaverse Music Festival kicked off yesterday (27 June) and is being held at the Volumetric Concert Hall via SK’s Ifland metaverse platform every day from 8pm until 3 July.
Aju Business Daily reports the festival involves eight artists and an avatar girl group, as well as featuring live avatar performances and fan meetings.
The publication notes that audiences can enjoy the festival by moving 360 degrees to their desired location at the sphere-type hall, and can freely float in the air on a flying skyboard.
“We used volumetric technology that simultaneously captures 360-degree images of people with more than 100 cameras and creates a three-dimensional image based on live action”
“At the Ifland Metaverse Music Festival, we used volumetric technology that simultaneously captures 360-degree images of people with more than 100 cameras and creates a three-dimensional image based on live action,” says SKT, as per Korea IT Times. “Thanks to this, the audience can see the K-Pop star as huge as a building.”
The festival is part of SKT’s project to incorporate metaverse technology into K-pop content targeting Generation Z.
SKT, which demoed the content at MWC 2022 in Barcelona earlier this year, says that further volumetric concerts will be held in August.
Last October, virtual blockchain-based world Decentraland unveiled the world’s first multi-day festival in the metaverse – a virtual world made up of permanent, shared, 3D virtual spaces.
The event, Metaverse Festival, featured more than 80 high-profile artists and personalities across four days and five stages.
In addition, Electric Daisy Carnival promoter Insomniac Events partnered with leading 3D platform Unity earlier this year on a “brand new, persistent metaverse world”.
The link-up, which promises to create “the next generation of live entertainment”, will focus on expanding dance culture from the physical world to the virtual, teaming Insomniac’s vision and creativity with Unity’s cutting-edge technology.
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Roblox secures 24kGoldn for next virtual concert
Roblox and Sony have announced a virtual concert experience starring Billboard chart-topping recording artist, 24kGoldn.
The 24kGoldn El Dorado Concert Experience will feature the rapper’s debut performance of new single In My Head, as well as metaverse-spanning pre-concert quests and exclusive verch (virtual merchandise).
The American rapper and singer follows in the footsteps of artists such as Lil Nas X, Twenty One Pilots, Royal Blood, David Guetta and Ava Max
“I grew up on Roblox and have been a big fan my whole life,” says 24kGoldn. “It’s been amazing to be a part of the full experience to make this virtual concert come to life. From coming up with the storyline and transforming my hometown to designing verch, I wanted to give my fans a one-of-a-kind experience.”
Jon Vlassopulos, VP, global head of music, Roblox, adds: “It was so exciting to see how passionate Golden was to extend his creative vision to Roblox where he also grew up playing.
“Roblox is changing the game for artists, freeing them to express themselves in a way they can’t do on any other platform and allowing them to connect with millions of fans who would never be able to get to see them play in the real world!”
“[Roblox allows artists] to connect with millions of fans who would never be able to get to see them play in the real world”
The 24kGoldn El Dorado Concert Experience will also feature a full storyline pitting 24kGoldn against an evil version of himself in a battle to save the city of ‘San Dorado’ which is inspired by a mashup of 24kGoldn’s hometown San Francisco and El Dorado, the city of gold.
During the concert, 24kGoldn will take fans through the overgrown city, perform at reimagined iconic locations, and give each song a unique, creative backdrop.
Pre-concert quests that include 24kGoldn-related themed challenges are available starting today. Fans can access the quests via portals to popular Roblox experiences where they can collect badges redeemable for prizes in the 24kGoldn El Dorado Concert Experience and acquire 24kGoldn’s unique verch items. Each day, two more portals will open.
Fans who collect all badges and attend the concert experience will get to unlock a special limited-edition emote after the premiere performance.
The virtual concert will kick off at 16:00 PDT on Friday (25 April) with additional performances re-airing every hour after over the weekend with the last show airing at 23:00 PT on Sunday (27 March).
Roblox’s VP, global head of music, Jon Vlassopulos, is due to appear at this year’s International Live Music Conference (ILMC) as part of The Metaverse & live music workshop.
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Roblox reveals most popular concert of 2021
Twenty One Pilots delivered the most popular music concert experience on Roblox in 2021, according to a new report.
The experience, which took place last September in collaboration with Warner Music Group, included a five-song set from the Grammy-award winning duo with the first-ever fan-dictated setlist.
Pre-concert quests, exclusive custom-designed virtual merchandise, behind-the-scenes footage and a Q&A were also included in the experience.
Fans in over 160 countries joined the virtual event, with nearly 70% of attendees joining from outside of the US – the game’s most engaged market.
Twenty One Pilots’ offering also earned second place on the top 5 events (both music and otherwise) that engaged over 30% of visitors in the 17+ age group, according to Roblox’s end-of-year report.
The only other music-related event in the top 5 was KSI’s launch party which saw the YouTuber and rapper perform songs from his chart-topping debut album ‘All Over The Place’.
Roblox’s daily active users increasing from 32.6 million in 2020 to nearly 50 million across 180 countries in 2021
Roblox’s report also showed stratospheric growth for the platform, with daily active users increasing from 32.6 million in 2020 to nearly 50 million across 180 countries in 2021.
The median daily active user visited 55 unique experiences over the course of 2021, the report reveals, and the fastest-growing demographic is 17-to-24-year-olds.
Roblox describes itself as “an online community where people come together to play, create and explore millions of 3D virtual worlds together”.
The platform’s first foray into in-game concerts was a virtual concert with Lil Nas X in November 2020 which garnered 35 million visits.
In January 2021, Roblox’s global head of music told IQ that one of the platform’s missions was to “double down on what we were already doing and grow our music offering significantly so music becomes an organic part of our users’ daily experience on Roblox”.
Other notable music experiences that took place on Robox last year include Royal Blood’s virtual concert and a concurrent virtual edition of EDC (Electronic Daisy Carnival).
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Pokémon GO announces Ed Sheeran concert
Pokémon Go has announced an exclusive performance from Ed Sheeran, slated to appear in the AR mobile game next week.
Sheeran’s pre-recorded set, which includes hits such as ‘Bad Habits’ and ‘Thinking Out Loud’, will be available in the News section of the app from 22–30 November.
The singer’s favourite Pokémon, Squirtle, will also appear in the game, along with branded ‘=’ sweatshirts that players can dress their avatar in.
In-game events have proved to be big business for Niantic, with this year’s Go Fest event reportedly bringing in $21m
In-game events have proved to be big business for Pokémon Go developer Niantic, with this year’s Go Fest event reportedly bringing in around $21 million in revenue over the course of two days, according to analytics firm Sensor Tower.
With the Ed Sheeran event, Niantic appears to be moving in the same direction as Fortnite and Roblox, which have been leading the way for in-game music events.
Pokémon’s previous in-game music events include a virtual concert headlined by Post Malone, which was part of the franchise’s 25th-anniversary celebrations.
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