- O2 delivers brand new interactive gaming and gig experience inside Fortnite Creative
- Starting today, fans can enjoy a week-long event inside Fortnite Creative, marking The O2’s first-ever appearance inside a videogame
- Leicester group easy life will be the first UK act to play an exclusive set at The O2 in Fortnite Creative this Thursday evening
- O2 customers have the chance to win exclusive rewards with Priority, with codes available right now via the Priority app
LONDON – 21 June 2021: O2, working with Epic Games and Island Records has today announced that London’s The O2 is now available to explore in the world’s biggest game, Fortnite, within Fortnite Creative. This week-long celebration of the world’s most popular entertainment venue will culminate with a unique performance by Leicester group easy life, who will be the first UK act to ever play a set in Fortnite Creative.
This is the first time that The O2 has ever appeared in a videogame and O2 customers have the chance to win exclusive rewards in the Priority app, including tickets to future easy life shows at O2 venues. Players and fans will later this week be able to enjoy tracks from easy life’s debut album ‘life’s a beach’, with the alt-pop quintet performing a unique interactive musical experience inside The O2 in Fortnite Creative.
Constructed entirely from scratch by an incredibly talented team of Fortnite creators – KKslider, DolphinDom and Team Cre8 – The O2 and musical experience has been brought to life inside Fortnite Creative. Within Fortnite Creative, the O2 x easy life partnership will provide players and music lovers with a range of unique and interactive musical experiences.
First is the recreation of The O2 and while from the outside the iconic London landmark is instantly recognisable, users will enjoy several exciting gameplay additions inside the virtual venue, including exploring a vast new space packed with hidden rooms, backstage areas and the O2 Blueroom, where they can unlock the Squeezy Life Spray and a Lobby Track created by Fortnite and easy life just by playing through the experiences.
The interactive music experience itself is much more than just a gig, with the band's music and lyrics influencing the world around players during the performance. During the show, attendees will be transported to six unique areas, each inspired by a different track from ‘life’s a beach’, pulled straight from the imagination of easy life themselves.
With much of easy life’s headline tour of O2 Academy and other UK venues this coming November already sold out, their performance at The O2 in Fortnite Creative presents music lovers with an early chance to enjoy an exclusive set from the UK’s top up-and-coming band. Beyond their performance in-game, easy life and Fortnite have also created a brand new, in-game-only lobby track that anyone can listen to within Fortnite after attending the experience .
The unmissable mainstage performance itself starts this Thursday, 24th June at 20:30 BST. Fortnite’s global audience of millions will be able to access and enjoy the gig with friends until 23.59 BST, this Sunday, 27th June, with the full performance posted exclusively to easy life's YouTube channel from Monday, 28th June too.
Simon Valcarcel, Head of Brand and Consumer Marcomms at O2, said: “We couldn’t be prouder to work with Epic Games to bring such an incredible experience to O2 customers and music fans all over the world via Fortnite Creative. O2 has a rich heritage in music and we’re committed to providing music fans with unique experiences so it’s only fitting that we’re bringing the world’s most popular entertainment venue into the world’s biggest game. We know how much everyone – us included – has missed going to gigs so we’re excited to bring the UK’s hottest up-and-coming band to gamers globally through Fortnite Creative.”
Nate Nanzer, Head of Global Partnerships at Epic Games, said: “We were thrilled when we were approached with the idea to bring The O2, one of the most iconic entertainment venues on the planet, to Fortnite Creative. We’re always looking for exciting and authentic experiences to bring to our players, and we can’t wait for them to get hands-on with this interactive musical journey. We’re excited to have the UK’s breakout band easy life perform in the game, and we think our players are really going to love exploring all that The O2 has to offer in Fortnite Creative over the next week.”
Murray Matravers, easy life frontman, said: “Being the first UK act to ever perform in Fortnite Creative, and for that performance to take place inside a venue as iconic as The O2, is truly humbling. We’re all huge gamers in the band so getting the chance to appear in a game this popular is a childhood
dream come true. We’re so excited for people to experience our music in the game – it promises to be a lot of fun and is just a taste of things to come ahead of our UK tour of O2 Academy venues later this year.”
Wertandrew, Lead Community Creator at Team Cre8 said: “Music was always a passion alongside level design and we are absolutely thrilled to have been involved in a project that combines both. This is the first time that an experience features an iconic venue and interactive show, both built from the ground up by Fortnite creators for players and music fans all around the world to enjoy.”
The O2 London opened its doors in 2007, the result of a groundbreaking partnership between O2 and AEG, the world's leading sports and live entertainment company. Priority is exclusive to O2 customers and brings a collection of invite-only moments to help them do more of the things they love. From exclusive treats and experiences, to early access to the most sought-after tickets in entertainment.
Customers can download the Priority app via the app store, or by texting PRIORITY to 2020. For more information, search Priority on O2 or visit www.priority.o2.co.uk.
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Notes to Editors
Universal Music Group contacts
E: Shane.ONeill@umusic.com
Fortnite contacts
E: press@epicgames.com
O2 Press Office contacts
T: +44 (0)1753 565656 / +44 20 7260 2700
E: pressoffice@o2.com / o2@hopeandglorypr.com
All O2 news releases can be accessed on our website: www.o2.co.uk/news
About Telefónica UK / O2
O2 is the principal commercial brand of Telefónica UK Limited, part of the global telecommunications group Telefónica S.A, headquartered in Spain and operating in Europe, and North, Central and South America.
O2 is the UK’s largest network with more than 36million connections, providing 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G services while operating a nationwide O2 Wifi service.
O2’s coverage and reliability are industry recognised, with GWS ranking O2 as the most reliable UK network, three years in a row – 2021, 2020, 2019). For four consecutive years O2 has won Best Network Coverage provider at the publicly voted Uswitch Awards (2021, 2020, 2018, 2019). It also won Best Network Performance at the Mobile News Awards in both 2020 and 2019.
The company is the network of choice for mobile virtual network operators giffgaff, Sky Mobile and Lycamobile and manages a 50:50 joint venture with Tesco for Tesco Mobile.
O2 has led the industry with its commitment to Customer Fairness. Since 2013 O2 Refresh has split airtime and device costs so customers never pay for a handset they already own, and the evolution of customisable plans gives customers true flexibility over how they pay for their mobile phone. From exclusive Priority Tickets which provide customers with pre-sale tickets for The O2 and O2 Academy venues, 48 hours before everyone else, to England Rugby matches - who O2 have proudly been sponsors of since 1995.
O2 strives to do the right thing as a business and for its customers. It has committed to becoming net zero by 2025 and to working with supply chain partners to reduce carbon emissions by 30% in the next five years. The O2 Recycle scheme encourages customers to dispose of old devices responsibly and was named Best Recycle Service at the Mobile Industry Awards.
In 2019 O2 was one of only three companies globally to be recertified at the highest level by the Carbon Trust Standard for reducing supply chain emissions. Since 2015 O2 has worked in partnership with the NSPCC, helping parents to keep their kids safe online with advice and tools like Net Aware. In 2020 it became the only UK mobile network to sign up to The Conscious Advertising Network (CAN), a voluntary coalition of organisations set up to ensure that industry ethics catches up with the technology of modern advertising.
O2 has 6,500 employees across three main office sites and more than 440 retail stores, and was named a Best Place To Work in Glassdoor’s 2018, 2019 and 2020 Employee’s Choice Awards.
Championing a fair, inclusive and ethical business from the inside, O2 has industry-leading inclusive policies that have seen it recognised with a National Inclusion Standard accreditation, and awarded the first ever People and Culture Award at the Mobile Industry Awards 2020. The company offers 14 weeks’ paid paternity leave for heterosexual and same-sex couples, and launched a toolkit for employees considering transitioning at work. It is the only telco named in the Social Mobility Employer Index for three consecutive years.
Telefónica UK Limited is registered in England and Wales. Registration number: 1743099. Its registered office is at: 260 Bath Road, Slough, Berkshire, SL1 4DX, United Kingdom.