No dance floor can hold 35 million people, and no artist could ever play to a crowd that large, yet Grammy Award-winning electronic music duo The Chainsmokers did just that, all from a private jet soaring over the Bermuda Triangle. How?

Columbia Records and Sony Music Entertainment partnered with leading metaverse developer Gamefam to create an unforgettable virtual concert experience starring The Chainsmokers to kick-off the launch of Festival Tycoon, the first-ever artist themed music experience on the Roblox platform.

Leading metaverse game developer Gamefam set the stage for success, working with talent and partners to create a bespoke virtual concert experience starring The Chainsmokers, complete with motion capture, and voiceovers as the music duo performed its most popular tracks on eye-catching sets.

Objectives included:

- Engage and grow The Chainsmokers’ global fan base with a memorable, authentic, and delightful virtual concert experience by tapping into the Roblox platform’s 67 million daily active player base.

- Keep the party going by leveraging the metaverse concert starring The Chainsmokers to kick-off Festival Tycoon, the first artist themed music experience on the Roblox platform.

- Offer fans new ways to interact and engage with their favorite music duo with The Chainsmokers-branded in-game Roblox accessories available on PC, Xbox, Tablet, and Mobile.

The primary target was Gen Alpha and Z audiences, and there is no better place to reach them than on Roblox. Given Gen Alpha and Z are moving away from traditional media platforms, like cable TV, they continue to engage heavily on metaverse gaming platforms, such as Roblox with over 4.6 billion hours of monthly user engagement in Feb. 2023. We’ve found that this younger, tech-savvy audience of gamers wants to not only view content but engage directly with other players and talent. Gamefam worked closely with music talent and brand partners at Columbia Records and Sony Music Entertainment to create a bespoke and personalized experience for The Chainsmokers’ metaverse debut, capitalizing on the Roblox platform’s social features and audience while giving players and fans an intimate look at the Grammy Award-winning duo’s life as musicians touring the globe.

The Chainsmokers concert was inspired by their personal experiences, playing over 200 shows and festivals each year. To give a glimpse into life as a superstar on the road, players were transported to five unique locations for each song during concert based on their #1 album, “So Far So Good.” Locations ranged from the top of an airplane soaring through the sky to an underwater stage surrounded by sea life. In the Festival Tycoon game, players are empowered to create their own music festival and have the opportunity to explore the islands, build rollercoasters, complete daring quests and boogie down.

By working with talent to share their experience through a gamified metaverse concert and by leveraging Gamefam’s team of seasoned developers with experience creating some of the most-played games on Roblox, both the virtual concert and Festival Tycoon surpassed expectations for ratings and engagement.

Starting in Q1 2022, Gamefam began the creative and development process for The Chainsmokers virtual concert and Festival Tycoon game. The Chainsmokers virtual metaverse concert debut and the Festival Tycoon game launch took place on the Roblox platform on Sept. 9, 2022 with additional performances re-airing every hour on the hour throughout the weekend.

It was clear that the key to success for the campaign was fan engagement from The Chainsmokers themselves, and they were all in on promoting the concert to their fans across digital platforms with direct-to-community call-to-actions. Given their engagement, both the virtual concert and game launch were a massive success – ultimately leading to The Chainsmokers’ most attended concert of all time.

The results were stellar:

-The concert became the #1 rated concert ever on Roblox at launch.

-Festival Tycoon is the first ever artist-themed persistent-music experience in the metaverse and leads in the popular tycoon sim category on Roblox with a 90% player-rating.

-To-date, Festival Tycoon and the concert have earned more than 35 million visits.

-To-date Festival Tycoon has secured 23K peak concurrent users (CCUs) and over 6.5 million hours of gameplay.

-It was The Chainsmokers’ most-attended concert ever (virtual or in-person).

-News of The Chainsmokers’ metaverse concert debut was covered by prominent lifestyle, gaming, music and business media outlets including Hypebeast, HITS Daily Double and VentureBeat.

Data source: RoMonitor & Gamefam