Big things are happening in the metaverse this week. Ethereum-based virtual platform Decentraland will be hosting its first multi-day festival with over 80 fully virtual acts, and Roblox has now announced that it has partnered with event promoter Insomniac to bring this weekend’s Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), happening live in Las Vegas, to its immersive platform.
The experience will be held in a persistent world within Roblox, World Party, which is dedicated to music and imagination, and marks the first music festival to take place on Roblox. The virtual world will include EDC’s famous festival stages and areas including cosmicMEADOW and circuitGROUNDS.
What makes this event particularly interesting, and relatively unique in terms of metaverse events that have taken place thus far, is that it hasn’t been produced in advance specifically for the gaming platform like last month’s Twenty One Pilots experience was, for example. Rather, it’s a full-on hybrid event whose virtual component is being streamed into the Roblox metaverse.
In some ways, this will create an even more immersive experience for fans, as all of the performances will be happening live. These types of metaverse experiences are also opening up more opportunities for artists, who can now essentially be in two places at once. DJ 3LAU, for example, who is performing at EDC, will also play a (pre-recorded) virtual set at Decentraland’s Metaverse Festival over the same weekend.
“Roblox continues to be a leader in bringing innovative, immersive music experiences to the metaverse, and we’re thrilled to partner with Insomniac who is the first to build a persistent festival virtual world on the platform where they will host EDC this week, one of the largest music festivals in the world,” said Jon Vlassopulos, Vice President and Global Head of Music for Roblox, in a statement. “We are excited to offer more amazing permanent music worlds like this one in the coming months as we continue to help the music industry engage with our global audience in new and unprecedented ways.”
In typical Roblox fashion, the experience will also include mini-games and collectible accessories, and all metaverse attendees will be entered for a chance to win real and virtual merch. In addition, some of the performers will join Roblox for meet and greets throughout the festival. The EDC Las Vegas 2021 experience on Roblox kicks off on October 22nd with a pre-show event, and will them broadcast live performances from October 23-25.