Game Music Digest | K-Pop, Metallica and Monstercat's Roblox Raves
Everything you need to know from the world of video games and music.
Game Music Digest is a weekly wrap-up of the most interesting stories at the intersection of video games and music, brought to you by MusicEXP. Subscribe to keep on top of the latest trends in video games and music delivered straight to your inbox every Monday!
Want more music and gaming news? Subscribe to the music and gaming podcast GXM, which I co-host with Laced community manager, Tom Quillfeldt. Our latest episode features Jessica Ashton from Space Ape Games, who explains how their mobile rhythm games Beatstar and Country Star act as music discovery platforms for 700k daily active users, and how this engagement has generated $150m in just three years.
Krafton’s Shooter PUBG Gets a Kawaii Makeover with NewJeans K-Pop Collaboration
South Korean video game publisher Krafton launched a collaboration with K-Pop group NewJeans in the PC version of its battle royale shooter, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG). Players can play as any member of NewJeans by unlocking or purchasing their character skins, which are available alongside other NewJeans-themed cosmetic items and emotes (dances) in the Shop or as rewards for completing event missions.
The PUBG map also gets an overhaul with the addition of NewJeans tour busses, jukeboxes that play NewJeans music, and a special stage that plays clips from NewJeans music videos if you use the relevant remotes. This is one of many K-Pop collaborations within video games (see also: Overwatch X LeSserafim & Cookie Run Kingdom X BTS) as game studios collaborate with well-known K-Pop groups to attract new users and generate revenue through the sale of of in-game items based on these artists.
New Free-to-Play Rhythm Game Based on Idolmaster Generates $20m in 30 Days!
Gakuen Idolmaster (学園アイドルマスター), a new mobile rhythm game based on the popular Japanese franchise The Idolmaster has soared to the top of the Japanese top-grossing chart, earning $20m in 30 days – even more impressive when you consider the game is free-to-play and only available in Japan, so that’s a lot of people spending on in-game purchases! This also highlights the strength of Japanese IP and the strength of rhythm games in Japan.
Fortnite Launches Metallica Collaboration: Its Next In-Game Concert
Fortnite launched its latest music collaboration on Thursday, a full-scale ecosystem takeover featuring the epic Metallica. This collaboration is the first time a major rock/metal band has appeared in the game and introduces Metallica’s biggest hits in the rhythm mode Fortnite Festival alongside themed challenges and cosmetic-items in other Fortnite modes. An in-game concert titled Metallica: Fuel Fire Fury will also take place on June 22 and June 23.
Harmonium: The Musical is an Upcoming Game Championing Accessibility With Its Own Sign Language
I really enjoyed reading this interview with the developers of Harmonium: The Musical, who tell GameRant why they’ve created a new sign language (Harmonium Sign Language) for their upcoming music-focused game, Harmonium: The Musical. According to GameRant, this new sign language was also inspired by communication difficulties that the game’s co-creator and writer, Matt Daigle, and other Deaf and hard-of-hearing people have experienced in their real lives.
“The Harmonium Sign Language-based puzzles, as well as the richly animated cutscenes and musical numbers, are designed to be accessible to every player, allowing Deaf and hearing players alike to experience the magic of Harmonium: The Musical,” says GameRant.
Monstercat Launches DJ Simulator, a New Immersive Music Experience on Roblox
DJ Simulator is a new Roblox experience created by music label Monstercat in partnership with Play Pals Studio. The experience features more than 350 Monstercat songs that players can perform as they step into the shoes of a music producer and decide which tracks to mix.
I can’t find this experience on Roblox at the time of writing (Monday morning), which suggests it might have been temporarily removed to address some bugs picked up on by players. Bugs aside, Monstercat, in my opinion, is leading the way with immersive gaming experiences and genuinely ‘gets gaming’. They were one of the first labels to recognize the potential of Roblox with the launch of their immersive experience Lost Civilization in 2021 – years before WMG, UMG and Sony followed suit. The label is perhaps best known by gamers and content creators for its ‘streamer-friendly’ music through Monstercat Gold, a monthly subscription that allows content creators to play music by Monstercat artists on Twitch and avoid DMCA strikes.
“DJ Simulator is the next evolution of Monstercat on Roblox and the culmination of our on-going journey on the platform since 2020. We are thrilled to bring this rich music-powered gaming experience, which ties our music, artists, and digital items together with greater depth to our engaged fans on the platform.” – Gavin Johnson, (Monstercat Sync & Partnerships Director)
London’s first-ever Soundtrack Festival Celebrates Video Game Music
London Soundtrack Festival is a new ‘Film, Television, and Games Music Festival’ with tickets going on sale in September for the inaugural event, which runs from March 19 to March 26, 2025. The event will include masterclasses from the Grammy-winning Star Wars Jedi Survivor composers Stephen Barton and Gordy Haab, alongside demos from Ludwig Forssell (Death Stranding), Harry Gregson-Williams (Metal Gear Solid + Call of Duty), and Borislav Slavov (Baldur’s Gate 3, Crysis 2+3).