Fortnite Festival, the latest in a growing line of Fortnite spinoffs, has excited fans with a promise of instrument controller support. The Fortnite Festival FAQ page makes it clear that supporting these peripherals is a 'priority for the team and currently under development'.
The page goes on to share that the team will have 'more to share in 2024', as this support '[is] not available at launch.' The team behind this rhythm-based spinoff is none other than Harmonix, a studio acquired by Epic in 2021 that developed many of the Rock Band games.
Many are hopeful that Epic's push to support these nostalgic controllers will lead to a resurgence of 2010-era rhythm games. Rock Band fans took to twitter, with one writing "[I] never thought Fortnite would be the reason we finally get a Rockband revival." Another shared the sentiment, saying "OH MY GOD! If Fortnite Festival is gonna support controllers, that probably means we might see new instrument controllers being made too! Finally getting a new Rock Band thanks to Fortnite, lol"
Others were more interested in the revival of gaming peripherals, a niche part of the industry whose decline has been steadily overshadowed by physical games themselves being phased out. "My prediction/deepest hope is that plastic instruments will be the first Fortnite peripheral. Then we can get those (increasingly rare) controllers made again."
For now, players are doomed to use a keyboard or controller in Fortnite Festival, despite the gameplay being fairly derivative of the Rock Band games. Many have found this challenging (or outright boring), which may be a driving force behind the push for instrument controller support.
The future definitely seems bright for Fortnite, even if its LEGO spinoff is currently outshining the main game. It's a shame that Epic laid off so many staff this year, but if the monolithic player base of Fortnite can be harnessed to revive genres like rhythm games, it'll be interesting to see what comes next.