Due to the new coronavirus, the stands are not full of people, but cardboard cutouts of fans (or dogs!) or Pocket Monster Plush Toys. Next up, virtual baseball fans, courtesy of Unreal Engine.
As noted in Variety, Fox Sports is filling the stands at Wrigley Field, Dodger Stadium, Nationals Park and Petco Park with virtual fans created with the same technology used to power video games like Fortnite and Street Fighter V.
“We had a vision to make our Major League Baseball broadcasts look as natural as before,” says Fox Sports executive Brad Zager. Fans can not only be customized to support any team, but the size of the crowd can also decrease in subsequent entries. “If it is an 8 to 1 game, the crowd can be reduced [late in the game]”Zager added.
Fox Sports felt like this without a crowd, the games would feel like practice, so it hired producer Silver Spoon, who performs motion capture and character creation, to create virtual fans.
“Our goal is to make sure that eyesight looks normal,” says Zager. Normal, this is not, but neither is 2020.
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