These are not normal video games.
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Two years ago, I stood at the top of the iconic red stairs in Times Square to experience the weirdest concert of my life. As glowing butterflies flitted about the various screens, a crowd steadily grew, knowing something was happening, but unsure of what. Then a countdown started, and a minute later one of the screens opened up, revealing Ice Spice and, later, Snoop Dogg, both of whom performed brief sets for the New York crowd. The really weird part is that it was a promotional event for Fortnite.
Epic Games’ battle royale is the poster child for a new type of entertainment experience: the live-service game, a never-ending treadmill of content that can become as much a habit as a game. When successful, these titles are massively lucrative and, unlike other types of games, they’re enduring. The Fortnite concert in New York showed just how culturally pervasive a live-service game can be at the very peak. It’s not every game that can manage a complete takeover of Times Square.
