In honor of Monstercat’s 10 year anniversary, we caught up with Head of Gaming, Gavin Johnson, to talk all things music, Fortnite, Roblox and the future!
Over the past ten years, Monstercat has both cemented itself as global phenomenon in the music universe, as well as an integral part of the gaming sphere.
Dropping bangers like the iconic “Crab Rave,” not only have their electro-house beats become iconic, but their in-game collaborations with the likes of Rocket League, Fortnite and SMITE have etched their name into gaming’s history books.
Just in time to celebrate their tenth anniversary, we caught up with Head of Gaming, Gavin Johnson, to take a deep delve into the past, and a magnifying glass to Monstercat’s future.
Monstercat X Gaming: A match made in heaven
While the Monstercat brand initially started out as a Canadian music-centric start-up, the impact that they’ve had in the music scene over the past decade cannot be understated. How, though, did Monstercat end up traversing the plains of gaming’s virtual universe?
“Gaming essentially is in Monstercat’s DNA,” says Gavin with a smile. “The name ‘Monstercat’ is actually a gamertag of one of the original employees.”
“I actually met the original artists and founders while online gaming,” he laughs, noting that “it’s something that’s endemic to us as people, so it’s a space that we wanted to become endemic with as a company as well.”
With a focus on providing streamer-friendly EDM, anyone who has ever breached the gaming space has likely heard one of Monstercat’s songs, but sooner rather than later they’ll be able to get better acquainted with the Monstercat himself!
From 2D to 3D: will we see Monstercat in Fornite?
One of the most exciting things coming up as part of the 10-year anniversary celebrations is a virtual experience, the first-ever record label 3D influencer (seen below). Your typical cat, the Monstercat has both adorable and tyrannical tendencies, and is looking to knock things off of kitchen counters everywhere.
“We really hope to bring a new sense of depth to how people can engage with the Monstercat… He could appear in anything around you, events and whatnot, that you maybe wouldn’t have been able to see him before.”
In the wake of virtual TikTok star Guggimon’s appearance as part of Fortnite Season 7, it would make sense if Monstercat snuck his way onto the planes of the iconic battle royale. “I would love to see 3D Monstercat anywhere, especially Fornite!” Gavin enthuses.
“If we’re able to get 3D Monstercat in any of our partnership networks that would be amazing!” So c’mon Epic, get on the case!
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Monstercat’s Lost Civilization: A Roblox story
Continuing the celebrations in style, Monstercat are collaborating with the iconic title, Roblox, to bring us Monstercat’s Lost Civilization. Debuting July 6, the story features music specific questlines, exclusive Monstercat-themed drops and much, much more.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Gavin recalls. “This started when launched the initial partnership content with Roblox, the initial 51 tracks for all developers.” Teaming up with names like Royale High and mrmudman and missmudmaam, the brains behind the game’s iconic HOMESTOREs, they created “a Monstercat hub, which is Monstercat’s world, the Lost Civilization.”
“It’s a place for fans to come and congregate, discover our artists, the Monstercat’s lore, do really engaging quests, earn Monstercat merchandise… it’s going to be an ongoing experience that lets fans experience Monstercat in a brand new way.” Merchandise will also be purchasable, with “Monstercat meet and greets allowing fans to go in and meet their favorite Monstercat artists on the platform” planned as well.
The 24/7 nature of the hub is something that harkens back to Monstercat’s early days. “This is very OG Monstercat in a way, because we used to do something very similar in the past on a site called plug.dj. We’d have all of our artists and fans congregate in one space, be able to share Monstercat music in there as well, and their love for Monstercat and be Monstercat avatars. It’s very reminiscent of that experience back in 2013.”
When past and present collide, it always makes for an experience filled with fun nostalgia. The Monstercat Roblox hub is the perfect fusion of old meets new, and it’ll be great to see what they’ve come up with!
Where will Monstercat go next?
Asking anyone to predict the future is quite the task, but Gavin certainly has a vision for the brand’s future in the gaming space.
“It’s a big question,” he laughs. “We’re going to be doing similar things to what we’ve always been doing. When you’re talking about five to ten years, it’s like ‘okay, how can we become even more endemic.’
“I think you’re just going to be really seeing more native gaming experiences that are a bit more elaborate and in-depth than you’ve probably seen before with Monstercat. We’re looking to dive to dive into the gaming space as much as we can. Expect us to keep evolving.”
Gavin hammers home that Monstercat want to “create moments around records that are memorable experiences,” and considering the smile that tracks like ‘Crab Rave’ bring to gamers all around the world, they’ve been pretty successful in achieving that aim.
We can’t wait to see what the future holds, and we’re calling first dibs on our own 3D Monstercat pet!