Millions of people are thought to have tuned into a concert by DJ Marshmello in the wildly popular online game Fortnite.
The American electronic music producer and DJ performed live in the game at 2pm EST on Saturday, in a virtual reality spectacle that was lauded by fans.
Fortnite: Battle Royale, a free online video game released in 2017, allows up to 100 characters to fight for survival on a dystopian island. According to the game’s developer, Epic Games, it had more than 200 million registered users worldwide in November, making it the world’s most popular video game.
Footage of the performance posted on social media showed in-game avatars dancing enthusiastically throughout the 10-minute show, in which weapons were disabled.
Tweeting after the performance, Marshmello – whose real name is Christopher Comstock – said: “We made history today! The first ever live virtual concert inside of Fortnite with millions of people in attendance. So insane, thank you Epic Games and everyone who made this possible!”
He added: “What makes me happiest about today is that so many people got to experience their first concert ever. All the videos I keep seeing of people laughing and smiling throughout the set are amazing. Man I’m still so pumped.”
In October, Epic Games was valued at almost $15bn (£11.7bn) after receiving a $1.25bn cash injection led by the private equity firm KKR. The company’s value had soared from an estimate of $4.5bn in May.
Although the game is free to download, it makes money by charging players for costumes and other accessories in a virtual in-game currency.
