This weekend Ariana Grande became the latest musician to hop into the digital world of Fortnite. Her big Rift Tour event is going on over the next few days and is less a virtual concert and more a trippy interactive adventure featuring odd visuals and mini-games.
Announced last weekend, after some leaks spoiled things, Ariana Grande is headlining what Epic is calling the “Fornite Rift Tour.” The pop star is virtually performing five in-game shows hosted across three days. The first event took place on August 6. A second repeat of the event wrapped up earlier today. Tomorrow, August 8, the whole thing wraps up with three more chances to catch the show. You can read more details about when it’s all going down here.
So what actually happens during her big in-game event? Surprisingly, quite a bit! You can watch the whole thing below courtesy of Gamespot.
During the Rift Tour event, players can’t hurt each other and instead take part in various segments that each have their own songs. At one point players are sliding around a long tube of colorful goo. Later, players are strapped into planes and given the chance to shoot at a large enemy and purple crystals. Other segments have players running around a strange maze of Escher-esque stairs and pillars or flying through the clouds on magic llamas that leave behind rainbow trails. As I said, a lot of stuff happens.
At one point during the event, Grande’s avatar is seen walking up large white stairs towards a bright white light. During this part, she is heard singing the song “The Way” which features Mac Miller. He tragically passed away in 2018. The two had dated starting in 2016. Many see this as a clear nod to Miller and his untimely death.
While this isn’t the first virtual concert to happen in Fortnite, it’s easily the best and most impressive yet. It sure beats that virtual Korn concert I went to in Adventure Quest 3D. (No offense to Korn frontman Johnathan Davis.)
I know some might be tempted to roll their eyes at all this or shake their fists at “the kids.” But this is a genuinely neat and legitimately cool thing. Even if you don’t love Ariana Grande’s music, the event seems like a blast. Sure, Fortnite has changed a lot since it first popped up a few years ago, however, I’m fine with the game trying bigger and weirder events like this. As someone who doesn’t love battle royale games, these events are one of the main reasons I still have Fortnite installed on my Xbox.
If you want to try to catch the concert, the first repeat of the event starts tomorrow at 12 am ET.