The era of plastic instruments and rhythmic gameplay was a worldwide phenomenon as Guitar Hero immersed players within a unique musical experience unlike anything before with Rock Band hitting the marketplace two years later. The premise was to put players on stage and rock out to their favourite tunes – matching coloured buttons with corresponding notes. Epic Games has ingeniously brought that experience back to the stage with Fortnite Festival from Harmonix whom was acquired by Epic Games back in November 2021 where it was announced that music based elements would make their way into Fortnite at some point in the future. This game mode is FREE to access and play like LEGO Fortnite and Rocket Racing which were simultaneously revealed during The Big Bang event earlier this month.
Players can squad up with three friends in Main Stage and Jam Stage experiences – the latter mode serving as a practice area to experiment with available Jam Tracks and create mashups whilst adjusting tempo and major/minor keys. The Main Stage is designed for players eager to jump into the heart of Fortnite Festival with familiar Guitar Hero and Rock Band mechanics. Players can choose between serving as Lead Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drums, and Vocals – peripheral support is currently unavailable however Epic Games is prioritizing that feature with development and implementation expected sometime next year with Performance Designed Products (PDP) teasing their involvement on social media.
Epic Games is celebrating the launch of Fortnite Festival with Season 1: Opening Night which includes its own mini Battle Pass where players can unlock cosmetics for use in the latest game mode. There are two separate reward tracks – FREE and Premium – with Grammy award-winning artist The Weeknd serving as the top tier prize; 1,800 V-Bucks to unlock premium path. Players can earn Festival Points by completing Festival Quests which are available through February 22nd, 2024, at 12AM EST and more artists are expected to take the stage in the future; Fortnite Icon Series skins are likely to follow.
Players can purchase The Weeknd Bundle for 3,500 V-Bucks which includes The Weeknd Combat Outfit with White Style, XO Back Bling, Axe-O Pickaxe, Masked Built-In Emote, XO Attack Wrap, Popular Vibe Emote, XO 6-String Guitar, and XO Keys Keytar. Individual cosmetics can be procured as well:
- The Weeknd Combat Outfit (1,800 V-Bucks) | Axe-O Pickaxe (500 V-Bucks)
- XO 6-String Guitar (1,000 V-Bucks) | XO Keys Keytar (1,000 V-Bucks)
- Popular Vibe Emote (500 V-Bucks)
Epic Games has said that cosmetics in the Festival Pass are not exclusive to Season 1: Opening Night and could potentially rotate through the Item Shop – Jam Tracks can be procured for 500 V-Bucks along with Instruments which range between 1,000 V-Bucks and 1,500 V-Bucks respectively. Players have several Jam Tracks available to them – FREE of charge – for a limited time as NEW and FEATURED tunes which must be purchased in order to play permanently. Epic Games has found success with musical artists including Eminem and Ariana Grande having performed in Fortnite through live events.
Fortnite is available now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC, Amazon Luna, and Android devices with iOS compatibility available through GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming.