Thursday night saw a new record fall for the mega popular battle royale game Fortnite, but it had nothing to do with firing pixelated weapons. A live Travis Scott in-game concert drew record players to watch the in-game spectacular, as Scott debuted a new collaboration with Kid Cudi and a lot of special effects for the streamed concert performance.

On Friday, Fortnite announced that the appearance broke a record for gamers playing during the event, with a whopping 12.3 million concurrent players in-game during the show.

Fortnite maker Epic has said encore presentations of the performance will run a few more times, in case you missed it. But it shows just how big an attraction a virtual concert is these days. Video games have become a place of escape for gamers during the pandemic, but also of musical refuge. Two different benefit concerts are taking place in the Minecraft universe, and others have been in the works in various video games in recent weeks.

Fortnite in particular is no stranger to concert events. The previous record was held by DJ Marshmello’s in-game concert drew 10.3 million players in 2019. It’s also held movie tie-ins at its Risky Reels location in-game, most notably a Star Wars: Rise Of Skywalker trailer that actually contained a key piece of plot that didn’t appear anywhere else.

It’s clear by now that these in-game promotions not only draw huge crowds, but that they can actually be entertaining as well as newsworthy. So expect to see more of them in the future.

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We demand spotless results or nothing now.

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Isn’t Danny Phantom technically a snack?

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That smile.😍

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“FDA is concerned that hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are being used inappropriately to treat non-hospitalized patients for coronavirus,” the agency wrote in a health warning.

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Among the organizations Amardeep Singh allegedly price-gouged were the Association to Benefit Children, the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens, and Rewarding Environments for Adult Living.

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On March 27, Ruth Harrington’s ashes were laid to rest at a plot next to her husband — the same day he was buried, in 2006 — and it also was their wedding anniversary.

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“I feel so desperate and hopeless now. I just want my parents here with me.”

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With much of life on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to practice good social distancing, one of the questions looming over all of this waiting is what will be left of the world we once had before everything changed? Restaurants and businesses of all kinds are particularly vulnerable, and many have made donations to various causes or made sure to order takeout from their favorite places to keep the lights on during a particularly vulnerable time.

One thing that may be overlooked are more obscure businesses, which is why Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch stepped up to save an important part of his creation’s own real-life history. Hirsch may have other projects brewing but he hasn’t forgotten the Disney show that’s still beloved by a legion of fans. And when a California roadside attraction the show was based on was in danger, he asked for help to keep an extremely weird landmark safe for future generations to enjoy.

Earlier in the week, Hirsch shared a GoFundMe for Confusion Hill, explaining that the California roadside attraction served as the inspiration for the Mystery Shack the folks from Gravity Falls called home. The campaign, started by Kai Roath, hoped to raise $9,000 for the attraction, which was estimated would help cover a three-month gap in operation most likely necessary to help encourage social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Confusion Hill depends on visitors to survive and with the current situation, it will be highly doubtful they will be able to open the train ride season and snack bar in May, which really saves them after the slow, rainy winter.
With no idea when they will be able to re-open, all they can do is stay closed and lose money like so many others.

As the entrance fee to the Gravity House is only $5, I am reaching out to you to with the humble suggestion to donate just that small amount.
If folks can donate $5 each, we can reach this goal together and help preserve one of the few, last unique roadside attractions in California. On a very-very slow day, Confusion Hill can make as little as $100.

The campaign called the attraction’s owner, Carol Campbell, an “honest and wonderful woman,” and it seems Hirsch agreed. His help amplifying the fundraiser got Gravity Falls fans involved in a big way, and he confirmed that Confusion Hill is a direct influence of the show.

He also donated $1,000 to the cause himself, as he clearly feels he owes a great deal of the show’s success to its brain-bending real-life counterpart.

And it seems to have worked. On Friday, Hirsch tweeted in celebration that Confusion Hill had been saved.

It seems like the $9,000 was all it needed to stay in operation, and fans had easily cruised past that mark to crack five figures in donations by the end of the day. It’s some rare good news in a world where many businesses are struggling, and hopefully the attraction can stay a weird part of California’s history for many years to come.