Yahoo Movies Can Gaming Help Coachella Get Its Mojo Back?
Coachella starts on Friday, but the Indio, Calif., music festival intends to get the momentum going early — at least in the virtual world of Fortnite.
For its third-consecutive year on the platform, Coachella is staging a takeover of Fortnite Festival, according to Goldenvoice, the event’s creator. The rhythm game will play host to the festival action, alongside other new in-world experiences, including a new destination and themed virtual outfits.
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“Starting today, fans will be able to play the festival’s first virtual stages in Fortnite Festival, and are invited to explore Sahara Island, a new music and mini-game experience created using Unreal Editor for Fortnite [UEFN], featuring music and visuals from Coachella 2024 artists Grimes and DJ Snake,” the group said in the announcement.
Coachella’s occupation of the Fortnite Festival Jam Stage will showcase event hallmarks like Le Grande Wheel and Spectra Tower, among others. The Festival Main Stage will give fans a chance to take the spotlight and perform Jam Tracks from Coachella 2024 artists, with show visuals inspired by Coachella’s physical stages.
Sahara Island marks an expansion of Coachella’s Fortnite presence, picking up the thread from last year’s introduction of Coachella Island and replicating the IRL festival’s new Sahara Tent, which opens this year.
In addition to festival-themed virtual styles from the past couple of years, two new outfits will land at the Fortnite Item Shop. The Horizon and Cosma looks take cues from Coachella’s signature astronaut art installation and will be available in both a Lego version and a more refined format. The festival suggests pairing them with the Mirage Glimmer Guitar and Festival Keys Keytar.
Other gear includes Interstellar Butterfly Back Bling, Coachella Pulse Pickaxe and Soft Synth Wrap. These and other offerings — including “emotes” inspired by 2024 Coachella artists Doja Cat and Sabrina Carpenter — will be available in the Shop from April 11 until April 20.
To celebrate J Balvin’s Coachella performance, the Inferno Skeleton Balvin Outfit, complete with the smiling Zappy-Go-Backy Back Bling, will land in the Item Shop for four days starting the second weekend of Coachella, on April 18. The outfit plus Back Bling are available individually or via a bundle that includes the “Mi Gente” Jam Track.
Ultimately, Coachella’s goal is to create a virtual version of its festival that mirrors the real-world event, with some aspects intentionally blurring the line between them.
“In our pursuit to bring Coachella to a broader online audience, we’re activating across Fortnite and the Epic Games ecosystem to create new in-game music experiences that allow online fans to get closer to the festival than ever before,” said Sam Schoonover, innovation lead for Coachella.
During the second weekend, online fans tuned into the Sahara Tent on Coachella’s YouTube livestream will get an augmented reality experience powered by Epic Games’ Unreal Engine that blends aspects of Sahara Island and the festival’s live performances. Visitors of Sahara Island may also stumble upon a hidden Coke Studio “remix room” and a sound studio, where they can collaborate to create songs.
Coachella’s smorgasbord of gaming and virtual experiences arrives as cultural commentators question whether the festival’s popularity has started to wane. Critics note that the festival used to sell out in a matter of hours. Last year, it took four days to sell out the first weekend alone. This year, it took a month.
Delays in announcing the musical lineup were likely to blame, at least in part. Fans across the internet were confused, even angered, because they were used to seeing the news drop in the first week of January. This time they had to wait, and with sales starting weeks later than usual on Jan. 17, it stirred speculation that organizers had trouble finding headliners. Of course, economic pressure amid wallet-thumping inflation may have something to do with slowing sales as well.
It makes sense then that Coachella — with Doja Cat, Lana Del Rey and Tyler, the Creator at the top of the bill — would want to “expand the festival virtually,” as Schoonover put it, and make it “more accessible to fans around the globe.” That’s one way to carry on the vibes, without costly changes to venues or scheduling. Then again, with its YouTube streaming, where viewers can tune into four music acts simultaneously, and a newly expanded virtual version of the event in Fortnite, Coachella seems to be veering deeper than ever into Couchella territory.
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