2020 has been a banner year for Travis Scott, with the Houston rapper having two number-one singles in “THE SCOTTS” and “FRANCHISE,” the first celebrity-endorsed McDonald’s meal since Michael Jordan in 1992 (which promptly sold out), soundtracking Christopher Nolan’sTenet, and numerousNike sneaker releases. However, his gaming collaborations are of particular importance, especially his virtualFortniteconcert.
A recent Forbes report revealed that Scott — real name Jacques Webster II — earned roughly $20 million from theFortniteevent, a figure that is simply staggering when compared to the Grammy-nominated rapper’s other income streams. For comparison, a single concert from Scott’sAstroworldtour last year grossed around $1.7 million, with the full tour grossing $53.5 million. Meanwhile, his Nike deal earns him about $10 million and his McDonald’s collaboration saw him pocket $5 million from the endorsement part of it, and $15 million from merchandise.
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More of the creative process for the Astronomical tour was revealed, including the surprising fact that Scott never traveled out to Epic Games' Raleigh, North Carolina headquarters. Instead, company representatives were sent out to his Hollywood studio as the two parties worked on the event which included skins, emotes, and merchandise ranging from t-shirts to a Nerf gun and action figure.
Scott’sFortniteevent was a huge success, with the game recording12.3 million concurrent playersat the time. With the prospect of performing live shows all but a pipe dream due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many artists took to online platforms to be able to perform. While not on the same scale as the Astronomical tour, Epic booked several other acts in Dominic Fike, Anderson .Paak, and BTS who performed via the Party Royale mode. A comparable concert could be seen withLil Nas X performing inRoblox.
“It’s all going to roll out in the next couple of weeks,” said the rapper regarding his multiyear PlayStation deal. A source told Forbes that the deal is expected to earn Scott around $20 million and could involve a co-branded console and perhaps even aTravis Scott-developed game. As of now, only the usual run of merchandise has been released. Scott is also planning to release a hard seltzer called Cacti, seen in the “FRANCHISE” music video.
Fortniteis available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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