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Custom LEGO Fortnite worlds. Riot Games fighting game unveiled. VALORANT esports team skins released. 100Thieves creates a music video and EA Sports offers collegiate athletes $600?

Ok, grab your coffee, ready up, and let’s drop in 🪂
Here’s what we have for you today:

• The Tea: custom LEGO Fortnite worlds are here? 🍵

• Riot Games’ fighting game revealed as 2KXO 🥊 

• EA Sports offers collegiate athletes $600 for their NIL 🏈

• Riot Games launches team skins for VCT partner teams 👏

• Music & gaming mix: 100Thieves music video with Ylona Garcia 🎵 

🍵 The Tea: custom LEGO Fortnite worlds

Last week rumors were abound, teasing that Epic Games could be introducing Island Codes for Custom LEGO Worlds in LEGO Fortnite. As of this morning (Tuesday February 27, 2024) LEGO has launched 2 custom LEGO Fortnite worlds!

These are playable examples created by LEGO but showcase exactly what the rumors last week were teasing. This is great news for all of the fans that hopped into LEGO Fortnite on day 1 just to realize the game still needed some features to live up to the hype.

The introduction of Island Codes, a popular feature in Fortnite, will make player’s custom worlds discoverable. This will open an entire new world of opportunity for creators, players, and yes — brands and marketers.

Of course this is still speculation, with no official confirmation from Epic Games that players custom worlds will be possible (yet).

👀 Our POV

I personally think the rumors around Island Codes hitting LEGO Fortnite is huge. This could be a golden ticket for brands that have been trying to activate in Minecraft for years and a massive community building & content opportunity for creators.

Right now, LEGO Fortnite is a cute sandbox, great for a solo build or a small crew's chaos. The game launched with over 2 million concurrent players, only for the hype to die off with the game now averaging 114K over the last 30 days. But throw in custom worlds and we're looking at a whole new game. It's like going from playing in someone else’s backyard to taking over your own personal island.

I think Island Codes could do a lot more than just increase the player numbers in LEGO Fortnite. LEGO Fortnite will be judged by it’s impact in 5, 10, 15 years — not the next 5, 10, 15 months.

- Zach Eller (Private Lobby)

🥊 Riot Games’ fighting game revealed

Last Week, Riot Games revealed the branding and some information about their hotly-anticipated fighting game, now named “2KXO”. Formerly named “Project L”, 2KXO has the fighting game community (FGC) eager to play the genre’s next major title. Riot confirmed a 2025 target for release with the opportunity to test it at events or at home during 2024. Riot’s famous for releasing titles that become wildly popular, and it’s likely 2KXO will be no different. The FGC has been growing in popularity in recent years, and Riot is entering an all-time high. 

2KXO is a tag-team fighter that uniquely allows players to team up or compete against one another. It enables you to tag in and out on the same team as your buddy or take a roster of 2 characters and challenge somebody else’s. It follows a similar 2D fighter style similar to other genre titans like Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter. You can check out the teaser and other info, like their mini Dev blog here.

🧠 Riot’s Expert Talent

Many might not know that seasoned veterans of the FGC space are leading development on 2KXO. Tom and Tony Cannon are creators of the Evolution Championship Series (EVO) and pioneers of netcode developments that greatly enabled modern online play for fighting games. After founding Radiant Entertainment in 2013, they were acquired by Riot Games in 2016 to begin work on Project L.

Tom and Tony are experts of the FGC space and give Riot an “in” directly to EVO, one of the biggest event series in FGC. Do not underestimate this game.

👀 Our POV

Marketers and advertisers would be wise to keep a close eye on this space. The FGC community has been relatively niche in the West for a while and has a locally-oriented community. This means hyper-engaged fans with tight-knit bonds to those in the community around them.

The brands and partners supporting the FGC have seen significant engagement due to the relatively uncompetitive space. Cashapp, for example, worked with my team at Airlock to fly out North America’s top Street Fighter 6 players and host an event during Twitchcon 2023. No joke, we generated the most positive sentiment analysis I’ve seen for a sponsor activation. If FGC fans see their icons having authentic fun, they will latch onto it.

I’m a big fan of the FGC and am quite bullish on its future. The FGC’s popularity in the West is growing, but it never quite slowed down in other parts of the world. If anything, we’re catching up! I anticipate this game will do what Valorant did in many ways. I think it will excite fans of the genre with something fresh and polished while drawing a big new audience from Riot’s core fandom. 2KXO will allow players old and new to plant their flag in something fresh while it’s novel. It would be out of character for Riot to release a dud, and the fact they have the Cannons involved points to a successful future.
 
- Brendan Valentine (Private Lobby)

🏈 EA Sports offers collegiate athletes $600 for their NIL

EA Sports is set to revitalize its college football video game series with EA Sports College Football 25 and in a massive move for the returning franchise, have offered 11,000 Division I players $600 each to feature their name, image, and likeness (NIL) in the upcoming game.

This move, hailed by EA Sports vice president Sean O'Brien as the largest and most equitable NIL program in the gaming industry, marks the return of the beloved NCAA football video game after nearly a decade. The revival comes in the wake of a federal judge's ruling that the NCAA cannot block student-athletes from entering NIL deals, clearing a major legal hurdle that previously led to the series' discontinuation.

The game will include all 134 FBS schools, but the cover athlete remains a mystery. Adding to the game's authenticity, ESPN announcers like Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler will lend their voices. Despite the excitement, there's been some controversy; the College Football Players Association criticized a similar offer last year as insufficient, urging players to reject the deal. As EA Sports gears up for a "full reveal" in May, the community and players alike are watching closely, balancing the hype with calls for fair compensation in the evolving landscape of collegiate sports video gaming.

👀 Our POV

First, it has to be said that it is incredible and about time that we're even in this situation. College athletes have been taken advantage of for far too long and now EA Sports, thanks to the evolution of NCAA's NIL rules, can finally bring college athletes into the game and compensate them for doing so.

This is a massive win for everyone. The players of the game, the college athletes, the schools, and EA Sports will all see positive impact from this. The game will be more immersive, engaging, and... fun with the real collegiate athletes in the game.

However, we have to talk about the point that the College Football Players Association has raised. $600 seems like an incredibly small amount when you think about how much EA Sports will likely make from the game. Is the compensation fair?

Personally, It doesn't seem like it but without more information it's hard to say definitively. We can hope that if this year turns out to be a great success, EA will use profits to compensate the players appropriately.

- Zach Eller (Private Lobby)

👏 Riot Games launches team skins

Back to back Riot stories! This past week Riot Games released their VCT Team Capsules, a VALORANT skin bundle made alongside the partnered teams from each region. 

Each team bundle will feature a player card, classic gun skin, gun buddy, and a spray. Teams were invited to collaborate with VALORANT designers to create each player card, giving teams free access to personalize each card to their communities. 🖌️

Bundles are $20 per team, with teams receiving 50% of all profits. Just off of the yearly champion bundles dating back to 2021, Riot Games has given over $60,000,000 to teams via revenue sharing with skins. 💰

⚡ Quick Take

This is what esports needs more of! It’s a win for everyone from the fans, to the teams, to the devs. In a time where organizations are trying to find ways to become sustainable, this is an easy way to bring in revenue for both organizations and game studios. 🤝

Not only does it allow fans to support their favorite teams, but it also works as an in-game advertisement for those who might be more casual players and not watching or keeping up with the VCT circuit.

- Justin Palacios (Private Lobby)

🎵 Music & gaming mix: 100Thieves music video with Ylona Garcia

100Thieves have released their first song and music video in collaboration with Ylona Garcia, featuring Fuslie and Valkyrie. It’s a collaboration that feels right at home with 100 Thieves' continued effort to be a culturally relevant brand beyond gaming. The 100 Thieves creator roster is no stranger to creating content around music. Fuslie previously released a song titled “The Dawn” in 2023, and NoahJ456 transitioned to a respected DJ after his rise as a Grant Theft Auto content creator.

In recent years, we’ve seen music and gaming culture continue to blend to create awesome moments. Fans of Riot Games know that the publisher has a trend of releasing songs (certified bangers) around their major events, for example. It’s a logical pairing as gaming and music mix well whether you’re rockin' to a playlist while you grind or chilling out on stream.

📈 A Growing Trend

Blending music with gaming has been more and more common over the years. Now, any gaming event is sure to feature some sort of musical act without a doubt. Clever brands are beginning to tap into this and build relevance around their brand through music.

• Rainbow 6: Siege just had its Six Invitational world championship which featured its famous opening ceremonies, featuring an orchestra.

• League of Legends Worlds 2023 opening ceremony was packed with music.

• Flyquest just launched their creative collective named “Metamorphosis.” Metamorphosis positions itself with the phrase “Connecting gaming with music & art” in its bio. 

• XSET announced their partnership with Breakaway Music Festival in 2023.

Gaming brands and creators have increasingly leveraged music to create novel marketing pieces and engage with fans on a new level. So far, fans have responded positively and embraced new content from the brands they love.

👀 Our POV

While the song from 100 Thieves may not be in my Spotify rotation, I respect the hell out of it. It’s a cool project that reminds us how much creative versatility 100 Thieves has in their team. Gamers love music, and finding ways to engage that passion with creators or brands they already love is clever. I’m eager to see how this trend develops and what brands will use it wisely. It’s not enough to get a DJ somewhere and have them play a set. Fans get a kick out of seeing elements of their gaming world included in music as a medium, whether it’s a League Worlds song or seeing their favorite YouTuber put on a great set. 

Music connects people in a similar way that games do. We’re used to music performances at gaming events or the accompanying nightlife. However, this trend of content creators and gaming brands producing their own original projects is an exciting development that’s unlikely to stop. Music shows promise as a way to differentiate your brand and create something of unique value for fans who know you for gaming. How long until we see a brand partnership revolving around music in the gaming space?

- Brendan Valentine (Private Lobby)

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