iHeartRadio is trying out a Fortnite ‘metaverse’ concert arena

Image: iHeartMedia

iHeartMedia is opening a dedicated space in the city to host events. The virtual park is being developed using the game's creative mode and will include several different areas.

State Farm Park is a main stage that is part of the park, as well as mini- games and quarters for iHeartMedia. Car racing, an obstacle course, and a building game are some of the mini- games that will be included on launch day.

There is a replica of the tunnel seen on iHeart's real headquarters in New York City. There is no mention of what the studio will be used for, but it is possible that iHeartMedia will use it to record commentary.

The State Farm Park stage has a huge screen for watching performances, a red carpet where you can take selfies, and a lawn area where you can play mini- games. There is gold currency in iHeartLand, but it is not clear if it is exclusive or not.

Despite the creative mode being used to build iHeartLand, this is not sponsored, endorsed, or administered by the company.

The first of twenty events will be a pre-recorded performance from Charlie Puth on September 9th. Players can win gold by playing a game hosted by Puth at the concert. The album release party will be shown in iHeartLand.

Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images

An important distinction from other virtual concerts is that Puth won't feature as a digitalavatar. The show will be shown in 2D at State Farm Park.

iHeartLand is part of the media giant's investments in Web3 and is intended to market itself to younger audiences. In the last few years, we have seen a number of successful marketing stunts using the game as a platform for metaverse entertainment, with Ariana Grande's own concert being attended by 28.7 million users and 12.3 million concurrent players.

Most of the notable metaverse performances have included big names doing well- publicized shows with virtualavatars. Will the younger market care more about watching a pre recorded concert than they do about watching a live concert?

State Farm is prepared to adapt should the current iteration of iHeartLand fail. iHeartLand and State Farm Park may evolve differently and dramatically based on what players love and what they don't.