Along with the heartbreaking news of a mass layoff affecting over 1000 employees at the company, Epic Games has also announced that it’s shutting down three key modes in Fortnite as it scrambles to claw back what it says are significant financial losses stemming from the game.
The three modes being shut down are Rocket Racing, the Rocket League-inspired arcade racer that launched in late 2023, the tactical first-person shooter mode, Ballistic, which was still in early access, and the Festival Battle Stage component of the Fortnite Festival rhythm game mode.
Ballistic and Festival Battle Stage are both set to be taken offline on April 16, 2026 while Rocket Racing will be decommissioned in October 2026.
Here’s the full statement and advice on changes from the official Fortnite Status account on X:
Rocket Racing, Ballistic, and Festival Battle Stage Going Offline
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 are going to shut these modes down on the schedules outlined below – we’re grateful for everyone who played.
Rocket Racing
After two years of high-speed competition, Rocket Racing will leave Fortnite along with all UEFN islands built with Rocket Racing templates in October 2026. Starting next week, Rocket Racing Quests will no longer be available, and the current track creation template will be removed from UEFN. There are no further Ranked rewards planned for this season. Nothing changes with your Vehicle Locker and you can still use your customized cars in Fortnite.
For developers building car content, in April we’re adding car physics, hazards, and track-building tools (including the Track Spline tool and Speed Boost devices) to the base UEFN toolset. Developers will also be able to build custom racing islands with jumps, boosts, and drifting. Before October, developers will be able to move compatible Rocket Racing content over to standalone UEFN islands.
Ballistic
Ballistic will be removed from Fortnite on April 16, 2026 in the 40.20 release. You can still play and rank up in Ballistic during its final weeks. For developers, first-person shooter tools in UEFN remain available, and FPS creator islands will continue to be supported. In order for developers to build modes like Ballistic, more UEFN features will be required such as custom weapon support, ranked support, and additional matchmaking features.
Festival Battle Stage
Fortnite Festival consists of three music modes: Festival Main Stage (one band with teams of up to 4, playing the “note highway” rhythm game), Festival Jam Stage (social island with casual music emoting), and Festival Battle Stage (a PVP game where 4 teams of 4 players play “note highway” rhythm gameplay competitively).
The Battle Stage competitive mode of Festival will go offline on April 16, 2026 with the 40.20 release and Quests will be available until then. 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.