MTV Video Music Awards Adds Best Metaverse Performance Category for Virtual Concerts

By Rollin Bishop

The upcoming MTV Video Music Awards 2022 has created a new category this year in order to honor the best music performances in virtual spaces. The new "Best Metaverse Performance" category includes nominations for the likes of Ariana Grande's Rift Tour event in Fortnite. The new category comes on the heels of virtual concerts in video games like Fortnite and Roblox becoming more and more prevalent over the past several years with artists like Travis Scott, Lil Nas X, and more performing in these sorts of experiences.

"We saw the opportunity to highlight and honor some of the best, most impactful executions of this – and celebrate artists who have found creative ways to use these spaces – which led to the addition of 'Best Metaverse Performance' category this year," a statement from an MTV spokesperson on the creation of the category, given to The Hill, reads.

The full list of nominees and corresponding platforms for the MTV Video Music Awards 2022 in the "Best Metaverse Performance" category is as follows:

  • Rift Tour ft. Ariana Grande – Fortnite
  • BLACKPINK The Virtual – PUBG Mobile
  • BTS – Minecraft/YouTube
  • Charli XCX – Roblox
  • Justin Bieber – An Interactive Virtual Experience – Wave
  • Twenty One Pilots Concert Experience – Roblox

Whether this category sticks around in the future remains to be seen. That said, there does not currently seem to be an end in sight for these kinds of performances. "I think there will be more opportunities to take part in similar events in the future," said musician Gen Hoshino in our interview earlier this year about performing in video games in the future. "With Fortnite spearheading events like this, I get the feeling that more and more events centered on musical performances will be held within the gaming sphere."

As noted above, Ariana Grande, BLACKPINK, BTS, Charli XCX, Justin Bieber, and Twenty One Pilots have all been nominated in the "Best Metaverse Performance" category at the MTV Video Music Awards 2022. Online voting is currently available, and winners are set to be announced alongside the rest of the categories on August 28th on MTV. You can check out all of our previous coverage of MTV in general right here.

What do you think about the MTV Video Music Awards adding a new "Best Metaverse Performance" category? Are you hoping to see one nominee specifically win? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop in order to talk about all things music and gaming!

[H/T GameDeveloper.com]

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