Hype around ‘music in the metaverse’ may have died down, but there are still plenty of music activations happening within games and virtual worlds. Three current examples reflect that trend.

First, a concert from Coldplay’s record-breaking ‘Music of the Spheres’ tour has been filmed by Meta and iHeartMedia to become an immersive experience in Meta’s Horizon world. It will air as a free event on 30 December via Meta Quest headsets as well as Meta Horizon’s mobile app. The partnership will also see the band’s songs featuring in Meta’s Beat Saber VR game and Supernatural fitness app.

The second story concerns Capitol Records artist Yeat, who had a big activation in Roblox “wild-west zombie apocalypse game” Dead Rails recently. According to Roblox’s music partnerships lead Jessica Meehan, more than 1.3 million players cleared the first biome (level) in the first three days of the activation, while more than 285,000 beat its final boss.

The final story isn’t a metaverse activation, but rather an esports tie-up. Japanese rapper OZworld will headline the opening ceremony of the Apex Legends Global Series grand finals in January. It’s an astute booking: OZworld is a known fan of Apex Legends, including organising his own tournament in 2022.