Fortnite‘s collaboration with Travis Scott helped the free-to-play shooter hit new highs for concurrent players.
In total, over 27.7 million players participated in the live concert that took place between April 23 and 25. The first showing set a new record for concurrent players as over 12.3 million watched Scott debut a song called The Scotts, featuring Kid Cudi. Epic Games announced on Twitter that users played the event 45.8 million times total across the five showings.
Thank you to everyone who attended and created content around the Travis Scott event!
Over 27.7 million unique players in-game participated live 45.8 million times across the five events to create a truly Astronomical experience. 🤯🔥 pic.twitter.com/LSH0pLmGOS
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) April 27, 2020
Each of the five showtimes for Travis Scott’s Astronomical event lasted just under 10 minutes. Players got to run around a set based upon the cover art of Scott’s last album, Astroworld, and eventually got to fly and swim through psychedelic areas while Sicko Mode and other songs by Scott played. The event ended after a butterfly appeared and transported players back to the normal island.
Fortnite previously experimented with hosting concerts inside its game last year as it held a 10-minute performance by Marshmello on February 2, 2019. More than 10.7 million players tuned in to watch the DJ perform hits such as Happier and Everyday, which set a then-record for concurrent players. Unlike Scott’s in-game performance, this concert was live and only happened once. Marshmello’s performance bested a previous high that came during Fortnite‘s The Cube event, where 8.3 million players watched as a strange purple cube get destroyed.
Live events have become a mainstay in Fortnite as its seasons have progressed. It began in the third season after a meteor destroyed the Dusty Depot, and future seasons have all had at least one major event. In October 2019, Fortnite‘s first chapter ended with a black hole that made the game temporarily unplayable for two days. More than 7 million players watched as its second chapter rolled out.
Players are currently speculating that the second season of Chapter 2 will end with an event revolving around doomsday devices. Players spotted mysterious devices in the water near The Agency, and data miners have found files that refer to three unused items called Doomsday Device, Doomsday Hatch, and Doomsday Door. The season initially was set to end on April 30 but has been extended through June 4.
