Metal band Avenged Sevenfold have launched a virtual museum inside Fortnite, but with a spooky twist.
The museum celebrates the band’s 25th anniversary, and doubles up as a virtual escape room. In a statement shared via their official website, the five-piece state that you do not need to be a gamer to enjoy The Museum, and that users can simply use problem solving skills to navigate their way through a fun experience.
“25 years have absolutely flown by. We wanted to do something to mark the occasion of our vast history by not just looking backwards but also forward,” the band say. “We started throwing around the idea of a gallery or museum of sorts to display art and eras of the band, but it was important to us to reach more people virtually.
“With The Museum, fans are able to control their own narrative as well as unlock hidden meanings, recordings and easter eggs. This project quickly got larger and larger as we worked with our friend Ryan McKinnon [artist who works with Unreal Engine] over the last year. What we have now is basically a fully virtual gallery, experience and escape room. We hope you enjoy taking a trip down memory lane with us… To 25 more.”
Fortnite Islands is a place within the Fortnite universe where players can create their own games, content and experiences using UEFN (Unreal Editor for Fortnite).
Take a closer look in the teaser below:
This virtual experience lands as no surprise, given that A7X have been exploring fan experiences in virtual realms for some time now. Following the 2021 launch of their NFT-based fanclub, Deathbats Club, the outfit also launched Season Pass – a direct-to-fan loyalty platform offering a number of perks – in March this year.
By “participating” in the band’s ecosystem – via attending concerts, streaming music, and buying merch – fans are rewarded with points that can be used to unlock tiered rewards including collectibles, merchandise, unreleased music and even real-life experiences.
Frontman M Shadows explained in an interview with MusicTech earlier this year that much of the motivation behind Season Pass is to take back the power from large corporations which put bands into boxes with regard to how they reward their dedicated fans.
“[Corporations] want to come to the artist and say, ‘We’ve built a business off of you, and now we want to reward the fan, but you can’t reward the fan, we want you to allow us to reward the fan in our own way,’” he said.
“And we’re taking that power away from them, and saying, ‘No, we’re gonna reward the fan – who is the same fan that participates in all of your corporate networks – and we’re gonna reward them in the way that we feel is the most meaningful, which is access to us, things that we want to give them, not through [corporate networks] but through us.’”
To access The Museum, simply download Fortnite on any device. When prompted with the search bar, you’ll need to enter island code 5592-6865-3961. Find out more via Fortnite.
