A hairless cat named Pi, two versions of Poppy, and a surreal world covered in clocks — this is what's coming to Fortnite, not a live concert venue. Poppy has brought her own stage into the game, using her own real-life movements.
Called "Poppy Secret Run," this interactive music experience launches October 23 and runs through November 23. Players can go solo or team up in squads of four, with the entire journey built around a single song: "Time Will Tell" from Empty Hands. For those who'd rather skip the gameplay, there's also a standalone concert version available to watch directly.
At the heart of the experience is a fork in the road: light or dark. According to the official press release, as players move through and interact with the world, every choice shapes which path they ultimately end up on, with two different versions of Poppy guiding them along the way. The world, dotted with clocks and accompanied by Pi the real-life cat, forms the visual backbone of the entire scene.
The game's starting point was actually a real performance. Poppy traveled to French studio SoWhen?'s base in Paris to perform "Time Will Tell" live, with the entire session captured using markerless motion capture and the OptiTrack system to record her movements, expressions, and lip sync — all without wearing any sensor suits or trackers. The press release describes her stage presence as having been "fully preserved and injected into the game character," with the audio carefully aligned so that every jump, spin, and landing hits precisely on the beat.
Worth noting: since this experience isn't officially endorsed or operated by Fortnite developer Epic Games, Poppy's character design and props won't appear in-game as official skins or merchandise.
This isn't Poppy's first foray into gaming. Earlier this year, she teamed up with Son Lux to create the theme song "In Death We've Just Begun" for the game Marathon, with composer Ryan Lott telling NME that she was "down to collaborate, very open and committed to the creative process." Poppy has also confirmed she'll perform at several international music festivals next summer, including Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park.
