The first showing of Travis Scott’s in-game Fortnite concert has concluded, and according to Epic Games, more than 12.3 million players logged in at once to experience it. A video posted on the musician’s YouTube channel gives a good look at what it was like, although the in-game event was considerably more interactive.
To put Scott’s Fortnite figure into perspective, Fox’s airing of top-rated TV show “The Masked Singer” this week drew 7.9 million total viewers, although that was only in the U.S. while Scott’s Fortnite appearance was available worldwide. At the same time, the concurrent viewership number reported by Epic Games for Scott’s virtual concert does not include additional views on Twitch and YouTube.
Scott’s roughly 15-minute Fortnite performance, which included a rendition of fan-favorite “Highest in the Room,” premiered at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 23.
Over 12.3 million concurrent Fortnite players participated live in Scott’s “Astronomical” virtual performance, an all-time record, according Epic Games. The prodigious turnout, no doubt, was helped by stay-at-home quarantine conditions in many parts of the world. The concurrent number would be a nice bump over the 10 million or so who were said to have tuned in for a Marshmello performance last year, and in a world without live concerts, present the game arena as an interesting location to host shared experiences.