Epic Games recently launched a trilogy of games within Fortnite, expanding the popular battle royale’s scope. The trilogy includes Lego Fortnite, Rocket Racing, and Fortnite Festival, developed by Harmonix, the studio acquired by Epic in 2021.
The latest addition, Fortnite Festival, is a music game similar to Rock Band, allowing players to hit notes to popular songs using a game controller (instead of a toy guitar) or mouse and keyboard. This move reflects Epic’s broader vision to transform Fortnite into a versatile platform offering diverse experiences.
We have seen Travis Scott perform a virtual concert inside Fortnite Battle Royal which had drawn a massive 12.3 million concurrent players at its peak making it the largest in-game gathering in Fortnite history.
Inspite of having concerts here and there, Epic Games never had a dedicated in-game feature celebrating music until they launched Fortnite Festival.
Epic Launch by Epic Games
Epic Games launched Fortnite Festival on December 9th, 2023, across all regions where Fortnite is available in collaboration with Harmonix, the developer behind titles like Rock Band and Guitar Hero . “For almost 30 years now, we have been trying to invent new ways for people to experience music through gameplay. ,” says Alex Rigopolous, co-founder and studio lead of Harmonix, pointing out they never had an opportunity to do that on anything like the massive scale that Fortnite offers. As Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney pointed out, “Not everyone on Earth is interested in a battle royale game.” Whereas, “basically everyone on Earth loves music.”
Gameplay Mechanism Reminiscent of Guitar Hero?
The game features two modes: On the Main Stage, play a featured rotation of Jam Tracks. Compete against friends for the best performance or team up to climb the leaderboards. Additionally, explore the Festival Jam Stage to find friends and mix hit music together using the Jam Tracks in your locker.
Players will be able to drum, strum or sing along to a diverse setlist of songs by the most prominent artists like Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Fall Out Boy, Kendrick Lamar, Olivia Rodrigo and headliner The Weeknd. The setlist includes popular tracks like “Bad Guy”, “Gangnam Style”and “Blinding Lights”, as well as 3 other tracks by The Weeknd and is thus expected to attract a wide range of music enthusiasts. The gameplay perhaps bears some resemblance to Guitar Hero.
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Fortnite Festival: Songs Setlist
- Dirty Little Secret by The All-American Rejects
- Bell Biv Devoe by Poison
- Bad Guy by Billie Eilish
- Zombie by The Cranberries
- Cake by the Ocean by DNCE
- My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark(Light Em Up) by Fall Out Boy
- Highway Tune by Greta Van Fleet
- Thunder by Imagine Dragons
- I by Kendrick Lamar
- Mr. Brightside by The Killers
- Suddenly I See by KT Tunstall
- Bad Romance by Lady Gaga
- Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO ft. Lauren Bennett and GoonRock
- Emo Girl by Machine Gun Kelly ft. Willow
- The Search by NF
- Nine Inch Nails by The Hand That Feeds
- Vampire by Olivia Rodrigo
- Counting Stars by One Republic
- Gangnam Style by PSY
- Go with the Flow by Queens of the Stone Age
- Cradles by Sub Urban
- Blinding Lights by The Weeknd
- The Hills by The Weeknd
- Save Your Tears by The Weeknd
- Take My Breath by The Weeknd
- Buddy Holly by Weezer
- THe White Stripes by Seven Nation Army
- Nothing’s Alright by Witch Gang
- Brace for Chaos by Epic Games
- Butter Barn Moedown by Epic Games
- Run It by Epic Games
- Switch Up by Epic Games
- Take Me Higher by Epic Games
Eyes set for a broader horizon and brighter future for Fortnite
Epic Games’ target is to eventually have “hundreds” of songs available to play in Fortnite Festival, according to Nanzer, head of Global Partnerships, Epic Games. “There will be a rotation of songs that anyone can play for free,” he explains. “If there’s a song you really like and want to be able to play whenever you want, you can go buy that song” (to retain access to it.)
The Weeknd fans celebrated Fortnite Festival’s launch with a flash mob in Times Square. The 300 Abel-alikes dressed like the singer’s in-game skins during the Saturday night (Dec. 9) takeover of the iconic downtown TKTS staircase.
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