Travis Scott made somewhere in the region of $20 million for the set of virtual concerts he did in Fortnite earlier this year.
It has been clear for a while now that Epic wants Fortnite to be more than just a game. Between its live events and the addition of a brand new island on which violence and guns are forbidden, it appears that Epic’s aim is to evolve Fortnite into a social space. Perhaps even the first game/social media hybrid.
Fortnite has enjoyed massive success so far when it comes to its in-game live events. Millions of people sat patiently and watched a blank screen prior to the ushering in of chapter two. This week, 15.3 million people logged in to help defend the island from Marvel supervillain Galactus. That’s a new record for the game when it comes to concurrent players.
Prior to Galactus’s new record, the first of Travis Scott’s virtual in-game concerts brought in the biggest crowd so far. 12.3 million people were watching him perform at one point. Not only is that something to brag about for Scott, but the series of concerts also made him a lot of money, and we mean a lot. Forbes reports that the singer made somewhere in the region of $20 million for his work with Fortnite.
The total Scott grossed for the concert includes merchandise sales, and comes to a much higher number than he would have made for an in-person performance. There’s probably no better time to discover that than right now with very little live music going on anywhere in the world. Plus, if Scott made that much, just imagine how much richer Galactus must be after this week’s event.
In addition to the reveal of how much Scott made by working with Fortnite, Epic’s Phil Rampulla explains that the landscape is changing. “You’ve got to bring something that’s awesome. Otherwise, it’s ‘that’s just an ad’,” Rampulla explains. A great point. Scott’s concerts were basically an advert for the singer and a way to get more people playing Fortnite. However, they wound up being such a spectacle that very few people in attendance would have been thinking that at the time.