Some might call it a gimmick. Others could rightly point out that the Fortnite audience may not be the Weezer audience.
But the fact that you can load into ‘Weezer World’, a Creative Island in Fortnite, and listen to four of the band’s tracks from their new ’Black’ album is pretty neat as far as I’m concerned.
The Black Album, Weezer’s 13th studio release, released today. But fans could get a taste of it starting with Season 8 of Fortnite which launched this Thursday. I spent some time in Weezer World and it was actually a lot of fun.
As you can see in the below pictures, I mostly rode around on a hoverboard trying to land wicked tricks while listening to some new Weezer tracks. I can think of worse ways to spend your time.
It occurred to me while doing this that Fortnite—and especially Creative Islands like Weezer World—is currently the closest thing we have to a proper Tony Hawk game. I suppose that realization dawned on me specifically because I was doing tricks on a board while listening to in-game music. I miss those games.
The inevitable comparison to Weezer World is the Marshmello concert that happened midway through Fortnite’s seventh season. But that’s a bad comparison. The Marshmello concert was a live, in-game event that happened in real time (and then one more time for an encore, though this was just a repeat of the first show.) Despite not being a Marshmello fan, the concert itself was completely mind-blowing, with millions either participating in-game or watching online.
Weezer World is a bit more chill. You can go there alone or with friends, but you won’t be surrounded by other players. It’s not happening in real-time and it doesn’t take place in the game’s battle royale mode or map. In that sense, it’s much less of a self-promotion / collaboration between Weezer and Epic Games than Marshmello’s event, which included special cosmetics you could purchase including a Marshmello skin.
I dig it. It doesn’t feel cynical, especially knowing that the band—or at least frontman Rivers Cuomo—is a Fortnite fan who, like me, plays the game with his daughter. I squad up with my kids all the time, and if I was a famous musician I’d totally love to have my own Creative Island where people could ride hoverboards and jam out to my tunes.
Speaking of tunes, the four debuted in Weezer World were just fine. I’d have to listen to them more carefully to render judgment, but I liked what I heard. I mean, this is no Blue album or Pinkerton by any means, but there’s some catchy songs here. Catchy enough to ride around on a hoverboard and do tricks to. You can log into Creative Mode and go through the Weezer World featured island rift to hear them for yourself.
