What's Fortnite Festival? Here's Everything You Need To Know About The New Musical Experience

Zinger Key Points
  • Fortnite Festival introduces Main and Jam Stages for musical gameplay and social jam sessions.
  • Epic plans to add instrument controller support but without a set timeline, while Season 1 showcases The Weeknd until February 2024.

Epic Games' Fortnite Festival, the latest venture from Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. — the creators of the "Rock Band" video game series — has unveiled a musical experience within the Fortnite universe.

This new triple-A rhythm game introduces two distinctive modes: Main Stage and Jam Stage, IGN reported.

Main Stage mimics Rock Band's mechanics, allowing players to perform using various instruments and customize their appearance. Bands of three can select songs and instruments before playing, receiving both collective and individual performance grades.

See Also: What Are Kids Asking Santa For This Year? Digital Currency, Subscriptions — Not Video Games

Meanwhile, Jam Stage offers a relaxed environment for experimenting with music tracks, allowing tempo and key adjustments to create unique mashups. Social spaces facilitate spontaneous jam sessions with friends, including integration into the Battle Royale mode.

The festival aims to create a space for music enthusiasts, encouraging social interaction and creativity. Updates will rotate songs from different artists, mitigating Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) risks with specified safe-use timeframes for licensed tracks.

Initially lacking support for instrument controllers, Epic confirmed plans to prioritize their inclusion in the future.

Epic EVP Saxs Persson and Harmonix studio director Alex Rigopulos spoke with IGN about instrument peripherals, citing active development without specifics on the release timeline.

"Not at launch, but it's very much a priority for us to support instrument peripherals in the game. It's something that we're actually already actively working on. We don't have anything specific to say about it yet, other than it's coming," Rigopulos said.

Songs can be purchased or unlocked via the Festival Season Pass, with featured free Jam Tracks that rotate. Gameplay resembles Rock Band or "Guitar Hero", requiring precise note hits to build a star meter.

Moreover, Fortnite Festival introduces new Locker items—Instruments and Auras—for customization. Season 1, named Opening Night, runs until February 22, 2024, featuring Canadian singer The Weeknd as the highlighted Icon.

Read Next: Epic Games Store Struggles To Turn A Profit: Inside Fortnite's Parent Company Court Case

Image credits: Jennie Book on Shutterstock.

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