
Hip-hop legend Big Bang made a brief appearance in the backyard of Fortnite players on Saturday, despite much fanfare.
The popular video game featured Eminem as the main character in a highly anticipated virtual event called the Big Bang. The Detroit rapper performed in an alternate dimension while dressed as an avatar.
The in-game event on Saturday may have come as a letdown to Eminem fans who were anticipating it greatly—many of them were undoubtedly first-time Fortnite players: The rapper appeared on screen for approximately four minutes, performing two abridged songs, “Lose Yourself” and “Godzilla.” The latter featured an exchange with Juice WRLD, who passed away.
The 11-minute sequence that featured Eminem’s segment was part of a longer one that started with transporting players from Fortnite’s Battle Royale island to a fantastical universe that included a Lego world and a desert racing scene.
(Fortnite’s developer, Epic Games, revealed on Saturday that the game’s upcoming Fortnite Festival music feature, along with Lego and rocket racing, will be added the following week.)
After that jaw-dropping introduction, fans were finally dropped into an arena where the well-known guitar riff from “Lose Yourself” began to play and Eminem’s persona emerged, dressed in rap clothing appropriate for the turn of the millennium.
Above all, the Big Bang served as a demonstration of the artistic kinetic energy produced by Fortnite’s team of creators, who paid close attention to every last detail. All in all, Eminem’s involvement appeared to be limited to licensing his name and two studio albums that were already out.
Eminem hasn’t done a major tour in a long time, and his most recent full performances were at a few stadium dates in 2019. There was a lot of excitement leading up to the rapper’s rare appearance on Saturday on Fortnite; he would be performing, albeit virtually.
The Eminem virtual show came after earlier Fortnite metaverse events, such as musical performances by Travis Scott, Ariana Grande, and electronic musician Marshmello, who was the main attraction of the game’s first in-game concert in 2019.
Players of Fortnite can now purchase Eminem skins as part of the Big Bang moment. These designs feature Slim Shady and the Rap Boy appearance that became popular in Em’s “Without Me” video.
Meanwhile, Fortnite is still dominating the video game scene. According to an Epic representative, new records for daily players (44 million+) and monthly players (100 million+) were set in November, just before the event on Saturday.