Fortnite Remix

Fortnite Remix: The Finale, featuring Snoop Dogg and others, is said to have attracted a record number of players. Photo Credit: Epic Games

Thanks to appearances from Snoop Dogg and others, Fortnite has set an in-game attendance record with Remix: The Finale, which is said to have attracted north of 14 million concurrent players.

The Epic-developed platform just recently revealed the sizable virtual turnout for Remix: The Finale, a concert from the mentioned Snoop Dogg as well as Eminem and Ice Spice. Additionally, the event featured a tribute to Juice WRLD and was promoted beforehand with a real-life performance in Times Square.

Snoop Dogg and Ice Spice delivered that Fortnite-themed show, dubbed Remix: The Prelude, at the top of November. The happening, streamed live to boot, kicked off Fortnite Battle Royale’s launch of Chapter 2 Remix, itself consisting of themed items, areas, and even new music released on a weekly basis throughout November.

Returning to the record-setting attendance behind the grand-finale concert, Fortnite indicated that another three million fans had streamed the event live. Meanwhile, the virtual show aired at 2 PM ET, had an “encore” broadcast at 8 PM, and is racking up millions of cumulative views across YouTube and social media via various replay uploads.

Given the concert’s marketing and headliners, the record attendance/viewership doesn’t exactly come as a surprise. However, the numbers underscore the strong promotional potential of Fortnite and are important on multiple levels.

Of course, microtransactions can prove decidedly valuable, and one needn’t stretch the imagination to see the benefits of bringing artists and music to around 20 million engaged fans. More than this, though, Fortnite, Roblox, and TikTok present worthwhile opportunities to connect younger userbases with veteran acts and existing tracks.

Admittedly, many of Fortnite’s youthful users were probably aware of 24-year-old Ice Spice prior to the concert. But they might not have been familiar with Snoop Dogg, and it’s entirely possible that they weren’t yet born when “Drop It Like It’s Hot” debuted in 2004.

(Snoop Dogg began the 12-minute event with the two-decade-old track, which, besides being rather conspicuously rendered free of profanity, saw words including “weed” censored.)

From an artistic (and perhaps even commercial) perspective, maneuvering to plug tracks and acts to young audiences via third-party digital communities isn’t necessarily ideal. But for better or worse, said communities appear here to stay – as do the corresponding music initiatives.

Late last month, fully licensed major label radio stations arrived in Minecraft for the first time, and TikTok, despite facing an uncertain U.S. future, is continuing to lean into artist-specific promotional efforts. Some acts, among them 27-year-old Coldplay, are opting to market releases through several of the relevant platforms.