How Karol G and Fortnite Pulled Off Her Colorful In-Game Concert

Karol G may have wrapped her Mañana Será Bonito Tour in July, but she just made one last important stop: “Fortnite.”

The “Provenza” hitmaker’s five-part interactive concert debuted Friday afternoon in the massively popular title from Epic Games, bringing her colorful, doodle-filled world to a whole new level.

“When I first heard about the opportunity to collaborate with ‘Fortnite,’ I didn’t hesitate,” Karol G, who serves as the headliner of “Fortnite Festival’s” fifth season, tells Variety exclusively. “As a video game fan, I’ve always admired ‘Fortnite’s’ incredible universe. This partnership offered us the opportunity to create something unique – an immersive experience my fans would love, while sharing my music with an audience that may not be familiar with me. So, when the opportunity to be a part of Season 5 came up, I was immediately on board because it felt like a natural extension of my creative expression.”

The virtual concert, which will be playable until 12 p.m. ET on Aug. 26, brings to life key moments in Karol’s story through her chart-topping music. “She’s obviously an incredible artist, and she’s setting so many records across the industry,” Epic Games’ director of strategic partnerships Emily Levy says of welcoming the singer to “Fortnite.” “What’s really unique about this concert is that it tells the story of Karol’s life and career narratively and interactively and in a fantastical way.”

Take the opening scene, which thrusts players into a bustling subway train. “The impetus for us bringing to life this subway scene was that Karol rediscovered her love of music and reinvested in her musical career when she was on a subway in New York City,” Levy says.

Karol worked hand-in-hand with Epic on her concert and visuals in the game, serving as the de facto “creative director” for the partnership. “For me and my team, it’s important that every collaboration we have feels organic and has part of my essence. In order to create this immersive experience and give fans the opportunity to feel like they are at one of my concerts, we paid attention to every detail so that each look truly represented my style and the energy I bring to my performances,” she says. “The setlist includes songs that are not just fan favorites, but also those that carry significant meaning in my life.”

While the Epic team considered recreating Karol’s tour sets, they opted to use their Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) to create an unmistakably creative virtual experience. “If you attended Karol’s international stadium tour, she performs on a giant shark,” Levy says. “We could have brought to life a shark, and she could have performed on top of it. But the unique thing about ‘Fortnite’ is that we can also do so much more. We can do things that would never have been possible in the physical world.” Cue dozens of neon green sharks swimming through the air as players careen down a wild water slide.

Karol’s in good company as “Fortnite Festival” headliner, joining previous acts The Weeknd, Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish and Metallica. “These different partnerships allow for an increasingly diverse set of fantasies for players,” Levy says. “At this point, ‘Fortnite’ is so much more than a game. It’s an ecosystem of experiences for a variety of different kinds of players who are coming to ‘Fortnite’ to do a variety of different things, whether it’s play ‘Battle Royale,’ playing on the main stage or battle stage, playing within the wider ‘Fortnite’ ecosystem, or playing ‘Lego Fortnite.’” Or even stream music.

Luminate Data found this year through analysis of select “Fortnite Festival” tracks that the songs showed an average lift of 8.7% in on-demand audio streaming after being announced, with some hits like Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” and NF’s “The Search” each jumping a whopping 23%. “It means that Fortnite is driving new forms of experience around music, both in the game and off-platform,” Levy says.

“Fortnite Festival,” still in its freshman year, builds on Epic Games’ ability to highlight artists in innovative ways. That’s why Eminem’s longtime manager, Paul Rosenberg, was eager to bring Slim Shady to the platform late last year after seeing Travis Scott’s collaboration with the game. “I started to really pay close attention to it and saw the massive platform that’s inside and the power that it had over fans and players and gamers,” he told Variety in 2023.

“One of my goals for this collaboration was to reach new audiences and offer them an exclusive glimpse into my world,” Karol says. “I’ve been amazed by the incredible response we have seen from fans across the globe. It has been a rewarding experience to receive messages and read on social media how people are discovering my music for the first time and connecting with it. This is a testament of the incredible work that Fortnite has done creating a global community and the rising popularity of Latin music.”

Levy and her team at Epic are betting that more musicians like Karol will consider “Fortnite” an extension of their artistry. “We’re hoping that our artist partners start to think about ‘Fortnite’ as another place to stop on their tour when they’re thinking about their releases. How can ‘Fortnite’ play a play an important role in a release cycle?”