O2, Universal Music UK Launch Supervenue in Fortnite Creative

O2, working with Island Records and Epic Games, has announced that London’s The O2 is now available to explore in the world’s biggest game, Fortnite, within Fortnite Creative.

This week-long celebration of the world’s most popular entertainment venue will culminate with a unique set by Leicester band easy life, who will virtually perform tracks from their debut album ‘life’s a beach’. This is the first time that The O2 has ever appeared in a videogame and O2 customers have the chance to win exclusive rewards in the Priority app, including tickets to future easy life shows at O2 venues.

With much of easy life’s headline tour of O2 Academy and other UK venues this coming November already sold out, their whimsical headline performance at The O2 in Fortnite Creative presents music lovers with an early chance to enjoy an exclusive set from the UK’s top up-and-coming band. Beyond their performance in-game, easy life and Fortnite have also created a brand new, in-game-only lobby track that anyone can listen to within Fortnite after attending the experience.

Within Fortnite Creative, the O2 x easy life partnership will provide players and music lovers with a range of unique and interactive musical experiences. Constructed entirely from scratch by an incredibly talented team of Fortnite creators – KKslider, DolphinDom and Team Cre8 – The O2 and musical experience has been brought to life inside Fortnite Creative. First is the recreation of The O2 and while from the outside the iconic London landmark is instantly recognisable, users will enjoy several exciting gameplay additions inside the virtual venue, including exploring a vast new space packed with hidden rooms, backstage areas and the O2 Blueroom, where they can complete challenges to unlock exclusive in-game rewards.

The interactive music experience itself is much more than just a gig, with the band’s music and lyrics influencing the world around players during the performance. During the show, attendees will be transported to six unique areas, each inspired by a different track from ‘life’s a beach’, pulled straight from the imagination of easy life themselves.

The unmissable mainstage performance itself starts this Thursday, 24th June at 20:30 BST. Fortnite’s global audience of millions will be able to access and enjoy the gig with friends until 23:59 BST this Sunday, 27th June, with the full performance posted exclusively to easy life’s YouTube channel from Monday, 28th June too.

Simon Valcarcel, Head of Brand and Consumer Marcomms at O2, said: “We couldn’t be prouder to work alongside both Island Records and Epic Games to bringing such an incredible experience to O2 customers and music fans all over the world via Fortnite Creative. O2 has a rich heritage in music and we’re committed to providing music fans with unique experiences so it’s only fitting that we’re bringing the world’s most popular entertainment venue into the world’s biggest game. We know how much everyone – us included – has missed going to gigs so we’re excited to bring the UK’s hottest up-and-coming band to music fans globally through Fortnite Creative.”

Murray Matravers, easy life frontman, said: “Being the first UK act to ever perform in Fortnite Creative, and for that performance to take place inside a venue as iconic as The O2, is truly humbling. We’re all huge gamers in the band so getting the chance to appear in a game this popular is a childhood dream come true. We’re so excited for people to experience our music in the game – it promises to be a lot of fun and is just a taste of things to come ahead of our UK tour of O2 Academy venues later this year.”

Nate Nanzer, Head of Global Partnerships at Epic Games, said: “We were thrilled when we were approached with the idea to bring The O2, one of the most iconic entertainment venues on the planet, to Fortnite Creative. We’re always looking for exciting and authentic experiences to bring to our players, and we can’t wait for them to get hands-on with this interactive musical journey. We’re excited to have the UK’s breakout band easy life perform in the game, and we think our players are really going to love exploring all that The O2 has to offer in Fortnite Creative over the next week.”

The O2 London opened its doors in 2007, the result of a groundbreaking partnership between O2 and AEG, the world’s leading sports and live entertainment company. Priority is exclusive to O2 customers and brings a collection of invite-only moments to help them do more of the things they love. From exclusive treats and experiences, to early access to the most sought-after tickets in entertainment.