Marshmello’s Virtual Fortnite Concert Attracts ‘Millions’

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Promotion for the encore of Marshmello’s virtual Fortnite concert is slated for the wee hours of Sunday morning.

While Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show in Atlanta is expected to capture a viewing audience of some 100 million, Marshmello’s Saturday afternoon virtual show at Fortnite’s in-game Pleasant Park captured “millions” of viewers to Epic Games’ wildly popular interactive phenomenon, according to the company. Fornite regularly attracts an estimated 40 million participants per month since its original launch in July 2017.

The event was billed as the first-ever in-game concert, a set which included Marshmello hits such as “Alone,” “Gassed Up,” “Check This Out,” “Colors,” Flashback,” Everyday” (with Logic), “Fly” and “Happier.” The Verge.com dubbed it, “a shockingly stunning sight to behold…an unprecedented moment in gaming… like a glimpse into the future of interactive entertainment.”

When Christopher Comstock (Marshmello’s real name) asked the crowd to jump, their avatars followed, just as they did when he urged them, to do the Marsh Walk.

The stage featured giant holograms of various Fortnite characters, while a custom set of graphics played in back of Marshmello’s avatar.  Epic disabled everyone’s weapons for the event, meaning everyone could enjoy the show without worrying about killing being killed (as many parents breathed an audible sigh of relief)

To promote the performance, Fornite offered players special Marshmello-themed skins and emotes (at between $8-20 a pop), as well as a special “Marshy Smasher” pickaxe to those who solved a three-challenge quest.

When reached for comment, Marshmello’s agency UTA credited managers Moe Shalizi & Krista Carnegie, lawyer Josh Binder and Ophir Lupu, head of UTA video games as the “architects of [of the deal] on behalf of the artist.”

Hotstar: Marshmello

“Today’s ground-breaking event showed not only the strength of Marshmello and Fortnite’s respective brands but offers a glimpse into the fast-paced evolution of gaming,” Lupu said in a statement to Pollstar.

This past December, Marshmello’s manager Shalizi departed from Red Light Management and opened the Los Angeles-based Shalizi Group with clents that include Marshmello, Jauz, Sikdope, Slushii, Southside 808 Mafia and others.

For those who missed the concert, Marshmello will perform a special encore at Fortnite’s Pleasant Park at 2 a.m. (ET)/12p (PT) Saturday night/Sunday morning.  Following the concert, Apple Music subscribers can also access an extended set available worldwide across the streaming service, starting at 1p (PT) here.

Marshmello also revealed a limited edition Marshmello X Fortnite capsule collection, available exclusively at his mellogang.com website.

John Davisson –
Pollstar June 9, 2017 cover featuring Marshmello.

Marshmello is a longtime fan of Epic Games’ Fortnite, and a popular figure within the game’s community, winning the E3 Celebrity Pro-AM invitational with his colleague Ninja just last year.

The 26-year-old Philadelphia native’s average gross, according to Pollstar Boxoffice reports over the past 36 months, is $205,320 with an average of 5,557 tickets sold.

His latest single, “Happier,” a collaboration with Bastille, has nearly one billion streams and has been certified Platinum, topping Billboard’s BDSDance/Electronic streaming and Dance/Electronic Digital Song sales charts along with Mediabase’s Top 40 Radio Airplay tally.