The ‘Fortnite effect’: It’s not just a video game, players have purchasing power
Fortnite represents a gigantic audience, and one that is willing to spend real dollars. Publicis Groupe’s Kaga Bryan explains why Travis Scott’s recent virtual concert confirms that video gaming, and gamers, should be taken seriously.
The global hit video game Fortnite recently held an online concert featuring rapper Travis Scott, attracting a 12m-strong live audience. To put this into perspective, such viewer numbers are on par with ESPN’s “Monday Night Football”, one of the longest-running, prime time, commercial network programs in the US.
If this isn’t a wakeup call to the compelling power of gaming as a global entertainment medium, I don’t know what is.
For Travis’ in-game Fortnite concert, five events were staged across three days and performed inside the game. Yes, that’s right. You needed to load the game up on your platform of choice, run your character over to an arena location inside the games world, and there you could watch Travis descend from space, to the virtual stage.
