five performances inside a video game across three days in 2021, with her own skin and a backpack shaped like her pig.
the short answer
the rift tour was a virtual concert inside fortnite battle royale, performed five times between 6 and 8 august 2021. she had an icon series skin released two days beforehand at 2,000 v-bucks, with a full bundle at 2,800 that included a piggy smallz back bling, a 7 rings pickaxe and sweetener-themed wings. it was nominated for best metaverse performance at the 2022 vmas.
what the rift tour actually was
not a stream of a concert. a purpose-built playable sequence inside the game, running five times across a weekend so players in every time zone could attend, in which the world around you changes as the songs progress — you are moved through environments rather than watching a stage.
it is the most technically ambitious thing of its kind she has been part of, and it happened at the exact right moment: august 2021, when there had been no live music for eighteen months and her own touring had been dormant since december 2019.
the skin, and the pig
- the base outfit, 2,000 v-bucks, in a metallic concert look, with a second style based on the game's rift crystals.
- the bundle, 2,800 v-bucks, adding a back bling modelled on piggy smallz — her pot-bellied pig — a pickaxe named after 7 rings, and glider wings named after sweetener.
- icon series, which is the game's tier for real people rather than invented characters. it puts her in a very short list.
why it mattered commercially
the audience for a fortnite concert is enormous and almost entirely does not overlap with an arena audience — it skews far younger and reaches people who do not buy tickets. for an artist between albums and between tours, that is a reach exercise nothing else available could match.
it is also, in retrospect, part of an unusually quiet stretch: 2021 contains this, a season of the voice, a wedding, and almost nothing else. wicked began shooting the following year.
can you still get the skin
icon series outfits rotate back into the item shop periodically rather than being permanently retired, so it reappears from time to time. the concert itself was a live event and does not exist inside the game any more — what survives is recordings of it.
questions people ask
when was ariana grande's fortnite concert?
the rift tour ran five times between 6 and 8 august 2021, inside fortnite battle royale.
how much was the ariana grande fortnite skin?
2,000 v-bucks for the base outfit and 2,800 for the bundle with the piggy smallz back bling, 7 rings pickaxe and sweetener wings.
is the ariana grande fortnite skin still available?
icon series outfits rotate back into the item shop periodically rather than being permanently retired.
what was the piggy smallz back bling?
an in-game cosmetic modelled on her pot-bellied pig, which is the most personal element in the whole bundle.
did the rift tour win anything?
it was nominated for best metaverse performance at the 2022 mtv video music awards.