Ed Sheeran Is Taking Over iHeartLand For An 'Immersive Experience'

Fans will be able to experience Ed Sheeran like never before, because the superstar singer/songwriter is taking over iHeartLand in Fortnite for a special "Immersive Experience."

During "A Special Ed Sheeran Immersive Experience" in iHeartLand, fans will see performances from Ed as they explore exclusive scenes created around his songs. The special becomes the first third-party music experience built using Epic Games’ Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN). These immersive worlds are inspired by Sheeran's own songs performed exclusively for iHeartRadio to celebrate his albums - (Subtract), and forthcoming Autumn Variations, arriving everywhere on September 29th. Users will be able to watch Sheeran perform throughout the different worlds as video screens flood every scene, with the setlist including performances of "Eyes Closed," "Shape of You," "Boat" and "Life Goes On."

Throughout the experience, fans will be able to explore scenery all built with UEFN. Each world is distinct and unique, ranging from a metropolitan city at night, a boxing ring in a desolate city during sunset, a high-speed boat cruising through a rich ocean ecosystem and a luscious forest setting. All four scenes were meticulously imbued with Easter eggs relating to Sheeran and his music. 

"A Special Ed Sheeran Immersive Experience" will be available in Fortnite starting on October 5, 2023 through October 9, 2023. 

Sheeran's - (Subtract) album was released earlier this year in May, and showcases 14 songs in total, including hits like "Eyes Closed" and "Boat." When he first announced his new album, the singer/songwriter shared a deeply personal note with fans, explaining, "I had been working on Subtract for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album, writing and recording hundreds of songs with a clear vision of what I thought it should be. Then at the start of 2022, a series of events changed my life, my mental health, and ultimately the way I viewed music and art. Writing songs is my therapy. It helps me make sense of my feelings. I wrote without thought of what the songs would be, I just wrote whatever tumbled out. And in just over a week, I replaced a decade’s worth of work with my deepest darkest thoughts."

Ed most recently announced his new album Autumn Variations, which is set to be released at the end of the month. The project includes 14 new songs inspired by his friends and different life changes they were all going through. He explained in a statement on social media, "Last autumn, I found that my friends and I were going through so many life changes. After the heat of the summer, everything either calmed, settled, fell apart, came to a head or imploded. When I went through a difficult time at the start of last year, writing songs helped me understand my feelings and come to terms with what was going on, and when I learned about my friend’s different situations, I wrote songs, some from their perspectives, some from mine, to capture how they and I viewed the world at that time. There were highs of falling in love and new friendships among lows of heartbreak, depression, loneliness and confusion. My dad and brother told me about a composer called Elgar, who composed ‘Enigma Variations’, where each of the 14 compositions were about a different one of his friends. This is what inspired me to make this album."