Epic Games announced the removal of three lesser-played Fortnite modes amid efforts to cut costs. Rocket Racing will end in October 2026, while Ballistic and Festival Battle Stage shut down on April 16. The decision follows layoffs of over 1,000 employees earlier this week.
Epic Games revealed on March 24 via its official Fortnite Status account on social media that it plans to delist Rocket Racing, Ballistic, and Festival Battle Stage from Fortnite later this year. The company cited low player retention as a key factor, stating, “We’ve built a lot of Fortnite modes, and in some cases, we failed to build something awesome enough to attract and retain a large player base. We’re grateful for everyone who played.” This move comes after Epic laid off more than 1,000 employees on Tuesday, amid declining popularity of the battle royale game. Rocket Racing, the earliest of the three modes, will go offline in October 2026. Epic will remove all official tracks, islands, and user-created content built specifically for it, though creators can migrate some to standalone islands. Racing quests will be deleted next week, but purchased cars and customizations will remain usable in Fortnite and compatible user maps. Ballistic, a competitive first-person shooter mode resembling Counter-Strike added in December 2024, will cease operations on April 16. Epic intends to provide more FPS creation tools in Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) to enable player-built alternatives. Festival Battle Stage, a player-versus-player rhythm game variant launched in 2024, will also end on April 16. Epic emphasized continued commitment to music features, saying, “Music remains a major part of Fortnite, and we’ll continue to improve Festival Main Stage and Jam Stage, and the music features that are available everywhere in Fortnite.” These closures reflect Epic's shift to focus on core battle royale content as player engagement wanes in experimental modes.
