At the top of the month, developer Epic Games launched Chapter 5 of Fortnite‘s popular Battle Royale mode. But with the start of this new chapter, the team also launched three new experiences within the Fortnite launcher. The first was Lego Fortnite, a survival Minecraft-like game, and soon after, the second, Rocket Racing, a new racing mode created by Rocket League developers Psyonix, went live. The third and final new experience of Chapter 5 (so far, at least) went live over the weekend – it’s called Fortnite Festival and is basically Rock Band-lite but in the universe of Fortnite. 

It launched Saturday, December 9, and allows players to use their various Fortnite skins and cosmetics on the Main Stage and Jam Stage to perform songs like The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” and Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” alongside Epic Games originals. While the Fortnite Festival music rhythm gameplay looks quite similar to that of Rock Band, it only supports standard controller input at the moment. I played about an hour of Fortnite Festival and while it’s an impressive experience, the lack of support for Rock Band peripherals and egregious monetization – they’re charging $5 a song outside of the daily rotation of free tracks – left me feeling like it still has a ways to go. 

While Epic Games hasn’t commented on the monetization happening within Fortnite Festival, it has revealed that instrument controller support is on the way in an FAQ. It says, “[Fortnite Festival does not support instrument controllers at launch], but it’s a priority for the team and currently under development.” Epic Games says it will have more to share in 2024. 

As for what to expect in Fortnite Festival, unlike Lego Fortnite and Rocket Racing, it features its own battle pass called the Festival Pass. It costs 1800 V-Bucks (roughly 800 more V-Bucks than the Fortnite Battle Royale battle pass) and features a skin of The Weeknd, whose songs are available in the experience, various instruments and cosmetics, and more. Here’s a look at it: 

There’s also a free track portion of the Festival Pass, allowing all players to earn cosmetics and more for Fortnite Festival. You can earn tracks like “Butter Barn Hoedown,” “Take Me Higher,” “Switch Up,” and more in the free track of the Festival Pass.  

Fortnite Festival is now live in Fortnite and free-to-play for all. 

For more, read about the recently released Lego Fortnite mode. 

Have you checked out Fortnite Festival? Let us know what you think of it in the comments below!