Garena Free Fire is coming up on their fifth anniversary, and in celebration they are collaborating with global icon and singer Justin Bieber.

No, this isn’t a joke. Justin Bieber is really coming to Garena Free Fire this August. To celebrate Free Fire‘s fifth anniversary, Garena will bring back players’ favourite themed contents, exclusive rewards and giveaways, and a series of collaborative events and activities, both in-game and beyond.

“I’m excited to partner with Garena Free Fire to have this opportunity to entertain my fans across the globe,

This collaboration with Free Fire has allowed us to explore various dimensions in which we can integrate my music with games and I can’t wait for everyone to enjoy what we have worked hard on behind the scenes.” 

– Justin Bieber

If you aren’t familiar, Free Fire is a mobile survival battle royale with each game lasting around 10 minutes. The game places you on a remote island where you are pit against 49 other players, all seeking survival. Players freely choose their starting point with their parachute, and aim to stay in the safe zone for as long as possible.

For now, all we know is that the event will take place on 27 August 2022 and will entail a virtual performance from Justin Bieber where he is set to debut an exclusive track as part of the fifth-anniversary celebrations. Players can look forward to immersing themselves in an interactive set-up, groove along to custom emotes, participate in minigames and potentially even perform with Justin Bieber’s avatar on stage.

“The tremendous support we have received from our global community of fans and players over the years has made Free Fire what it is today and this celebration is for them,

We are excited and humbled to partner with a global icon such as Justin Bieber, whose influence in fashion and music has undoubtedly inspired many worldwide, including our Free Fire community which expresses their own creativity through battling in style. Free Fire’s fifth anniversary celebrations will be the biggest yet and I’m sure the lineup of events we have planned will thrill our fans and players.”

– Harold Teo, Producer of Free Fire, Garena

We’ve seen virtual performances take place before, most notably with Marshmello and Travis Scott in Fortnite. It’s safe to assume that this event is coming to fruition due to the overwhelming success of Fortnite’s events.

And I wouldn’t be surprised if more and more games will partake in this trend of having singers, rappers and DJs hold in-game performances in the not so distant future. An obvious choice for the next game to replicate this would be League Of Legends. Having such a close relationship with performers like the band Imagine Dragons, I can imagine Riot Games has at least thought about the possibility of doing a collaboration with them in a similar fashion.