Metallica is doing a musical festival... on Fortnite
The band will be performing in a virtual concert, along with new, Metallica-themed gameplay
If you’re not able to get yourself to a real-live venue to see heavy metal rockers Metallica perform this summer, don’t worry. Now, you only need to pick up a controller—or spend some time educating yourself on how the hell you play Fortnite. The game’s developer, Epic Games, announced today that the band would be playing in a “brand-new playable concert that will journey through six of Metallica’s fan-favorite songs with themed gameplay that complements the intensity of a Metallica live show.”
While we’ve been hesitant to champion digital recreations of live, communal experiences in the past, the concert—titled “Metallica: Fuel. Fire. Fury”—does at least live up to the “intensity” promise. In a trailer for the game’s Guitar Hero-esque “Festival” offshoot, animated versions of band members James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo play a murderous rendition of “Enter Sandman,” in which balls of light generated by the power of rock shoot out of their guitars and drums to dissolve posers trying to share the stage. The game, called Battle Stage, “will see 16 players in a match, all will play from the same four-song setlist, and one will emerge victorious,” according to a press release.
The band, as well as their hits including “Enter Sandman,” “Ride the Lightning,” and “Master of Puppets,” will be available across multiple Fortnite experiences starting tomorrow. Metallica joins The Weeknd, Lady Gaga and Billie Eilish, who featured in former seasons of Fortnite festival, which means the game really is creating its own little digital Coachella.
You can catch the Metallica virtual shows at 2 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. ET, and 11 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 22, and 10 a.m. ET, 2 p.m. ET, and 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 23. (Or on YouTube where they’ll likely end up after the fact.)