1 week ago
5
"In some cases we failed to build something awesome enough to attract and retain a large player base"
Epic Games have announced that they're laying off over 1000 staff today, March 24th. In the wake of that news, the publishers have announced that three Fortnite modes are being permanently sunsetted. Meanwhile, one of the studios Epic own - Horizon Chase developers Aquiris - have announced plans to pull downloads for the first two games in their arcade racing series offline later this year.
First, Fortnite. Rocket Racing, Ballistic, and the Festival Battle Stage mode are all set to go offline at various points in 2026, Epic announced in a tweet. "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," the publishers wrote.
The first two modes to disappear will be Ballistic and the Festival Battle Stage, both of which are set to make their exits on April 16th this year, alongside the arrival of the game's version 40.20. You'll be able to play both modes up until they go, with Epic emphasising that Ballistic's FPS-themed tools for Fortnite's Unreal editor will be sticking around - as will the game's two other music-related modes, the Festival's Main Stage and Jam Stage.
Rocket Racing, meanwhile, will stick around until October this year, with all of the Unreal editor islands built using its template following it out of the door. "Nothing changes with your Vehicle Locker and you can still use your customised cars in Fortnite," Epic wrote. "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 [Fortnite Unreal editor] 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 [Unreal editor-made} islands."
Shortly after Epic announced the departure of those modes, Brazilian devs Aquiris put out a tweet of their own revealing that Horizon Chase and Horizon Chase Turbo will no longer be available to download as of June 1st this year. The latest entry in the retro-inspired arcade racing series Horizon Chase 2, will remain grabbable, suggesting this is a layoff-related yanking of any games beyond the one currently being pushed or worked on. It's a damn shame. Horizon Chase Turbo's the entry I've played the most of and I dug its Amiga-style vertical road scrolling as much as Graham (RPS in peace) did.
For more Horizon Chase Turbo love, give Brendy (also RPS in peace)'s entry on it in our best racing games list a read, though you've likely not got too long to do so as this news means I'll have to get my update motor in gear at some point soon.
English (US) ·