Coachella 2023 Announces ‘Fortnite’ Metaverse Activation Featuring Music From Porter Robinson

Can’t make it to Coachella this weekend? No problem. Now you can attend through your computer.

On Thursday (April 13), the festival announced “Coachella Island,” a partnership with Fortnite that presents the festival in the metaverse. Launching Friday (April 14) at 3 p.m. PT to coincide with the first day of the IRL fest, Coachella Island is inspired by Coachella’s dreamy desert landscape, with digitally rendered mountains, polo fields, palm trees and day-to-night features.

Inside this landscape, “attendees” can take part in dance competitions, tour the “grounds,” purchase in-game “merch” and more. Built by Alliance Studios, which has built many brand campaigns inside Fortnite, the Island also features an “art park” and a gallery of related “fotography.” Coachella Island will be soundtracked by music from Porter Robinson, who’s also on the 2023 lineup.

Coachella Island anticipates hosting millions of fans over the weekend. It also marks the first time Fortnite has hosted a festival, after previously hosting record-setting one-off performances by artists including Travis Scott and Marshmello. Coachella is an “always on” experience, meaning it will stay live in perpetuity and continue to be built over time.

“Fortnite is the ideal partner for Coachella due to their shared emphasis on creativity, entertainment, and cultural impact,” Coachella innovation lead Sam Schoonover tells Billboard. “This year was the right time to introduce this new, always-on extension of Coachella as recent advancements in gaming technology allow for new collaborations with Fortnite creators to provide new immersive music experiences for fans.”

Previous festivals have also happened inside the metaverse, with Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas partnering with Roblox in 2021.

Coachella launches April 14 in Indio, Calif., with headliners Bad Bunny, BLACKPINK, Frank Ocean. Blink-182 was also added to the lineup recently and will perform at the festival on opening day.