With PYTHIAN Art of Dance wants to connect hard dance fans from all over the world and make the ‘event feeling’ available for a wider audience
The VR platform will be available for VR headsets and Windows PCs on Steam launching March 15
Art of Dance, renowned organizer of the largest indoor and outdoor hard dance events in the world, announces the worldwide launch of PYTHIAN. PYTHIAN is a unique digital platform where hard dance fans can enjoy their beloved music and the festival feeling in a whole new way through VR and XR worlds. Fans can not only participate interactively in live experiences, but can also go back in time to relive various event highlights.
First live VR experience
The first ever live experience will kick off on March 27 with an one-hour show hosted by the world’s leading hardcore brand: Masters of Hardcore. The exclusive live VR experience will virtually take fans around the world back to one of the most successful themes ever in 2016: Raiders of Rampage. The livesets are provided by top of the bill hardcore artists, such as: Angerfist, Miss K8, Mad Dog & DRS. Unlike other VR events, you are not in the original venue here, but you will take a virtual journey between thematic scenes.
Angerfist, #36 in the Top 100 DJ’s ranking by DJMag, is proud to enter the virtual stage: “I can honestly say I have never experienced anything like this. It’s amazing how you are really transported into the events’ theme but at the same time, with the show and people around you, have the feeling of being at an event.”
Besides the live experiences, fans can also go back in time to relive some of the best hard dance sets together with friends in an XR experience on the platform. They can show their technical skills too, as they have the ability to operate the lights during the show.
Connecting hard dance fans worldwide
With PYTHIAN, Art of Dance responds to new innovative developments whereby not only the current visitors are offered an extra dimension on their event experience, but also serves fans who normally don’t have the opportunity to travel to the Netherlands for an event. Matthijs Hazeleger, founder of Art of Dance & Masters of Hardcore, says: “Our fans are located all over the world and especially fans in continents that are further away can still get the festival feeling through our new platform. Virtual Reality, for example, has already gained a lot of ground in Asia, where there are new opportunities for us to appeal to a wider hard dance audience. We do not see the platform as a replacement for our events, but as an innovative way of connecting our visitors all over the world. ”
The team behind Art of Dance has been organizing the biggest indoor and outdoor events worldwide since 2001. With their events they serve more than two hundred thousand visitors every year. Nikita van Seggelen, marketing manager at Art of Dance continues: “We are used to creating themed worlds and stories around our events and take the visitors on a journey along the way. When the Corona virus hit our scene hard, we directly switched to the mindset: “what can we do to keep on doing what we love?; creating experiences to make our fans escape reality.”
Available on Steam
PYTHIAN will be available for download on March 15th and will be available for VR headsets and Windows PC through the online game platform Steam. Art of Dance advises the use of a VR headset for the ultimate experience.
The early access price to enter PYTHIAN is € 9.99 (regular price is € 14.99). The Masters of Hardcore VR experience is accessible through PYTHIAN. Access to the event including access to PYTHIAN, costs € 19.95 during early access (regular € 24.99). The live experience can also be purchased separately as DLC in PYTHIAN for € 9.99.
The platform is created in collaboration between the VR developer VRROOM and Art of Dance.
More information about PYTHIAN XR can be found on the website: www.pythianxr.com.
About Art of Dance
The Art of Dance team normally organizes some of the biggest indoor and outdoor events in the hard dance scene (hardcore/hardstyle) in the Netherlands, but also in Germany, Austria, Australia and more. During these events they serve more than 200,000 visitors per year. Art of Dance is 50% part of ID&T.
About Master of Hardcore
Masters of Hardcore was founded in 1995 as an answer to an industry who abandoned our treasured noise.
Our aim is to maintain our position as the unsurpassed foundation for hardcore events, music, artists and hardcore merchandise. Powered and inspired by followers worldwide we preserve the infamous sounds.
About VRROOM
VRROOM develops Virtual Reality experiences with different goals in education, healthcare and business. The desire to do something with this expertise in combination with (dance) events has resulted in the collaboration with Art of Dance.
