Fortnite's Eminem concert teased the future of the game – The Verge

By Andrew Webster, an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.
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Fortnite’s latest virtual concert was more than just Eminem stomping across a destroyed city — it also teased a number of experiences coming to the game in the future.
The Big Bang Event, as it was called, lasted around 10 minutes and whisked players through a variety of spaces. At first, everyone was gathered on the Fortnite OG island to witness a few moments from the game’s past happen again: a rocket launched, a meteor crashed, and then everything was sucked into a black hole.
From there, players were sucked into a number of portals, each with a different theme. First, there was an island full of Lego characters running around, fighting and building things. Then there was a futuristic race. Finally, Eminem appeared, and while he performed “Lose Yourself,” players had to hit notes in time to the music as if they were playing Guitar Hero.
Once that was over a gigantic Eminem appeared, and was basically a kaiju as he performed “Godzilla.” The song was set against a ruined city on fire, and at one point the rapper even breathed fire into the air. (As far as concerts go, Eminem’s virtual performance was the fourth major in-game musical event, following Marshmello, Travis Scott, and Ariana Grande.) Then it was all over.
Given Epic’s recent push into expanding Fortnite’s creative mode, it’s not surprising that the event was designed to reveal upcoming experiences coming to the game that aren’t just traditional battle royale. The goal, it seems, is to make Fortnite more of a platform than a game, similar to Minecraft or Roblox.
In fact, just after the event ended, Epic and Lego officially announced an in-game experience called Lego Fortnite that will be launching on December 7th. , meanwhile, are called Rocket Racing (developed by Rocket League creator Psyonix and launching December 8th) and Fortnite Festival (developed by Rock Band studio Harmonix and launching December 9th).
The Big Bang follows an interesting period for the game. Instead of a traditional months-long season, in November Epic debuted Fornite OG, which revisited key moments and locations from the battle royale’s past. It proved to be a hit, with Epic claiming 100 million players in November — making it the biggest month in the game’s history.
Prior to The Big Bang, Epic gave a good glimpse at what players can expect in Chapter 5 when it comes to battle royale, including a fresh island complete with a train you can ride (also Peter Griffin from Family Guy and Metal Gear’s Solid Snake). Here’s the launch trailer:
Chapter 5 expected to launch on Sunday. If you missed The Big Bang, Epic says that there will be two more showing at 5PM and 11PM ET on Saturday.
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