Roblox live event a disservice to the metaverse, and The Chainsmokers

pcgamesn.com:

Roblox’s live event with The Chainsmokers, an electronic music duo with billions of listens on Spotify, is kicking off its concert with a permanent presence via a branded experience called Festival Tycoon. It all sounds incredibly exciting. After all, the metaverse promises to bring people together with virtual events that mimic how people behave in the real world.

However, Festival Tycoon is the digital equivalent of shelling out money for a festival ticket only to watch your favourite band put on the most mediocre performance of all time. If this is the promise of the metaverse, we’re better off trying our luck at Fyre Festival.

A PERSISTENT ARTIST EXPERIENCE OR A PERSISTENT CASH GRAB?

First, allow me to add the caveat that the concert, which launches on Friday, September 9 at 4pm PDT / 7pm EDT / midnight BST (Sept. 10) / 2am CEST (September 10), and repeats every hour through the weekend, may be outstanding. Many metaverse concerts leverage the latest digital technology to create stunning, immersive works.

However, the associated digital experience is a different thing altogether. It starts with a scavenger hunt in a virtual airport where players can collect letters, which unlock a digital reward. Numerous branded games on Roblox offer the same thing, and while it’s not inherently unfun, it’s also not innovative. But the real issue is Festival Tycoon. Festival Tycoon represents why Roblox will continue to struggle to adopt an older audience. The branded experience is nothing short of a kiddie cash grab.

On Roblox, tycoon games reward people for the amount of time they spend playing. In Festival Tycoon, players collect money from ATMs that offer payouts over time, which they can then use to unlock things like stages