This Saturday, 2 February, Fortnite achieved a new first with(in) its battle royale phenomenon by hosting American DJ and Producer Marshmello at in-game spot Pleasant Parks, for the game's first music concert.
Fortnite players who showed up - and show up, they most certainly did - had their weapons disabled for a 10-minute set by the electronic musician, real name Christopher Comstock.
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If the numbers doing the rounds are to be believed, 10 million players were in attendance - making Marshmello's show significantly more crowded than the most-popular real-world concerts. I mean, even Glastonbury in its gloriously muddy, climb-over-the-fence-for-a-tenner days of the late-90s has nothing on this. It's a significant landmark for the very concept of virtual online performance.
Following the performance, Marshmello tweeted:
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He followed his tweet with another, his excitement still clear for all to read:
The set has since been made available on Apple Music for those who missed it, though the novelty of the experience was presumably half the appeal. (You can also watch the concert on the artist's YouTube channel.) As with any real concert, merchandise was on sale with Marshmello costumes available for players to purchase.
While it's easy to be dismissive of this kind of PR stunt, the chance for millions of young gamers with little money to attend a gig with their friends is pretty cool. And while it's certainly not the first virtual concert, by a long way, nothing of this scale has been achieved before. So, kudos.
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Did you attend Marshmello's gig in Fortnite? Who would you love to see do the same sort of thing, in the future? Is this a brave new digital world for touring musicians, maybe? Let us know - we're on Twitter and Facebook.
Words: Sam Greer
Featured Image Credit: Epic Games/Marshmello