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Creative News

BREAKING NEWS: Rocket Racing, Ballistic and Festival Battle Stage are being removed!

olilzTwitter
·Mar 24, 2026

Today, Fortnite has announced that they will be permanently removing some of their most popular game modes:

  • Rocket Racing
  • Ballistic
  • Fortnite Festival – Battle Stage

Rocket Racing

Screenshot 2026-03-24 154011.png

Rocket racing will be removed as a mode in October, with all quests and ranked capability being removed next week.

There will be no changes to vehicle lockers – and your cars can still be used in all modes – although to a player – this makes buying car cosmetics much less appealing.

This also affects creative mode & UEFN!

Epic has today announced that the rocket racing template islands will be removed next week – however you can continue to use current islands until October!

All islands will also be permanently removed.

This means if you have created any maps using the rocket racing template or have a UEFN Rocket racing map – it will become unplayable this year!

This is a huge loss for creators and developers, as some of the most unique experiences gave been created using rocket racing.

We suggest converting your island to a normal UEFN project before this date, as it is unclear if they will be recoverable. See here for a guide.

But… It’s not all Bad News

Epic have teased some upcoming creative and UEFN Features coming in future releases:

  • Car Physics
  • Car Hazards
  • Track Building Tools and Track Splines
  • Jump, boost and drifting mechanics for vehicles.

Ballistic

Screenshot 2026-03-24 154035.png

The one unique first person FPS style mode, that demonstrated how the first person camera should be used in UEFN is scheduled to be removed with the next game patch, on April 16th (v40.20).

Epic state that first person tools, such as the first person camera and creator made modes similar to ballistic will continue to be promoted and supported for creators.

It was also said that more UEFN features will be added in the future, such as matchmaking enhancements – including ranked matchmaking and custom weapon support will be added to UEFN in the near future (as teased on the roadmap earlier this year!).

olilz

Hey I am olilz! I love being part of this awesome community. You should use code olilz :D

Twitter@TheRealOlilz

Festival Battle Stage

Screenshot 2026-03-24 154022.png

The PVP Style mode of Fortnite Festival is being removed with the v40.20 patch on April 16th.

Both Jam Stage and Main stage will continue to be supported.

With this mode originally launching alongside the Metallica UEFN concert, to promote festival and music creation in UEFN islands, this again is very sad to see.

Epic state that Music will continue to be a major part of Fortnite, with improvements coming in the near future to jam stage and main stage.

Staff Layoffs

Also announced today, 1000's of Epic Games staff were layed off. This was blamed on the "The downturn in Fortnite engagement in 2025"

Epic are making $500 Million in cost saving to keep the company funded.

Read more on our blog (link here soon)

The communities reaction

The communities reaction seems to be mostly negative. Most members seem frustrated, that their favourite gamemodes are being taken away – even know they have seen a lack up updates from Epic in the past few months.

Here are a few community member reactions under the announcement post.

Screenshot 2026-03-24 151550.png Screenshotre2026-03-24 151805.png

When I asked Ember, A FCHQ Playtester on their opinions, they said:

Whilst deprecating certain gamemodes and/or pausing development would've been expected at some point due to the natural cycle that Fortnite modes—such as Team Rumble—follow where eventually player engagement dies out. Rocket Racing was a shock as it was still very active and doesn't require much—or any—maintenance to keep running with its current functionality.

Personally, I feel this is a huge loss for creators – especially the removal of Rocket Racing islands. This may impact creators engagement in ecosystems. Also, with the fortnite player base being at an all time low – this decision may drive away more players – But I recognise this may be Epic’s way of allocating resources into better and bigger projects.

Read More From This One On Epic's Tweet

That’s it for this one!

By Olilz

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