BLACKPINK wins VMA’s first Best Metaverse Performance Award for PUBG Mobile

It is a milestone for mobile games as more collaborations between celebrities and companies continue to reinvent performance and content for emerging trends in games and pop culture. In fact, 15.7 million viewers watched the official “Ready for Love” music video of BLACKPINK, earning the number one spot for days, and winning the first-ever Best Metaverse Performance award at the MTV Video Music Awards 2022.

BLACKPINK wins VMA’s first Best Metaverse Performance Award for PUBG Mobile

The MTV Video Music Awards for Best Metaverse Performance was awarded to the Korean pop girl group BLACKPINK with their collaboration with PUBG Mobile. According to MTV, the group’s virtual concert, “BLACKPINK: The Virtual”, received the most votes in the category, which garnered over 320 million votes overall.

The release of the brand new special tune, “Ready For Love,” as well as virtual performances of BLACKPINK’s biggest hits were featured at the 8-minute in-game event which was broadcasted internationally. Iconic landmarks throughout the world were used to promote the event, including New York Times Square.

The BLACKPINK X PUBG MOBILE special track ‘Ready For Love’ music video was released as part of the partnership and has now been watched over 146 million times since its launch. The video marks the first time BLACKPINK has appeared in avatar form for a music video and the first time PUBG MOBILE has collaborated with artists on a music video featuring virtual images.

‘Ready For Love’ transports BLACKPINK member’s avatars into iconic locations from the PUBG MOBILE universe from the island of Erangel, the rainforest of Sanhok, the desert of Miramar, the icy tundra of Vikendi, and across a sea of flowers in Livik. Familiar game elements such as airdrop, helmets, planes, and bullets embellish the video to further immerse viewers in the PUBG MOBILE world.

“We want to thank all of our players and BLINKs alike for their support in making this PUBG MOBILE’s biggest partnership yet. It’s been such an honor bringing the incredible music of BLACKPINK into PUBG MOBILE. PUBG MOBILE always wants to present its players with new cutting-edge experiences and to be at the forefront of popular culture,” said Vincent Wang, Head of PUBG MOBILE Publishing at Tencent Games. “This partnership has been all about bringing together the worlds of music and gaming and uniting fans across the globe. We’re looking ahead to the future for more incredible experiences we can bring to the community so stay tuned.”

“It was a great pleasure for us to have another meaningful partnership with PUBG MOBILE. Hope we can show various sides of BLACKPINK through music and more,” according to YG Entertainment in a press release. “The 2nd FULL ALBUM [BORN PINK] will be released on September 16 and the World Tour start in October. Stay tuned for it!”

In order to recognize the virtual concerts that were staged in video games recently, especially as a result of actual in-person performances becoming postponed or canceled entirely due to the COVID-19 epidemic, MTV added the Best Metaverse Performance category to the VMAs this year.

“We saw the opportunity to highlight and honor some of the best, most impactful executions of this — and celebrate artists who have found creative ways to use these spaces — which led to the addition of Best Metaverse Category this year,” the MTV spokesperson said.

BLACKPINK’s fellow K-pop group BTS for their performance in Minecraft, Ariana Grande for her Rift Tour concert in Fortnite, Twenty-One Pilots for their concert in Roblox, Charlie XCX for also hosting a concert in Roblox, and Justin Bieber for his performance on Wave, a virtual reality platform that hosts immersive interactive concerts by well-known artists, were also nominated for this Best Metaverse Performance.

In PUBG MOBILE, BLINKs can still represent their icons by obtaining the custom-made outfits that the group wore during their performances. They will be available until August 31st. The BLACKPINK Voice Packs, with never-before-heard voice commands from JISOO, JENNIE, ROSÉ, and LISA, are also still usable in-game.

ALSO READ: BLACKPINK returns to PUBG MOBILE for its first-ever “THE VIRTUAL!” ingame concert

If you missed the show or want to relive ‘THE VIRTUAL’ you can watch the video below:

PUBG MOBILE is available to download for free on the App Store and Google Play Store.