The release of Season 3 of Fortnite Festival has not only added a new bevy of rewards and a Billie Eilish cameo, but it’s also brought the long-awaited controller support for instrument controllers, or at least some of them.
Season 3 dropped earlier today, with Epic Games confirming Billie Eilish as the headline act via an update on the Fortnite website. While the new Festival Pass and added songs were the focus, anyone who’s clung onto their old Rock Band 4 controllers will be thrilled to hear some of them are finally compatible with Fortnite Festival. Support for Rock Band 4 may have ended this past January, but it’s good to know its peripherals have a new use and aren’t doomed to gather dust somewhere.
Considering Fortnite Festival‘s development is being handled by Harmonix, the studio responsible for the Rock Band series, you’d expect its latest rhythm game to include support for the instrument controllers made for Rock Band 4. In fact, Epic Games called controller support a “priority” for the development team when Fortnite Festival came out. Clearly, Epic and Harmonix knew people would want to really feel like a rock star by playing with a guitar in their hands.
The bad news is only six of the various controllers are currently supported, and they’re all guitar ones. So, drum players are going to feel left out. The good news is Harmonix isn’t stopping here, with Epic already promising further controller support in the future. The full list also includes the new PDP wireless guitar controller, which was announced in January and is now available for purchase. It appears to be incredibly popular, since I can’t find it in stock anywhere.
The full list of supported controllers consists of:
- RIFFMASTER Wireless Guitar Controller for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4
- Rock Band 4 Rivals Wireless Fender Jaguar Guitar for PS4 (is compatible with PS5)
- Rock Band 4 Wireless Fender Stratocaster Guitar for PS4 (is compatible with PS5)
- RIFFMASTER Wireless Guitar Controller for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC
- Rock Band 4 Rivals Wireless Fender Jaguar Guitar for Xbox One (is compatible with Xbox Series X|S, requires the Microsoft Xbox One Wireless Adapter for Windows 10 to use on PC)
- Rock Band 4 Wireless Fender Stratocaster Guitar for Xbox One (is compatible with Xbox Series X|S, requires the Microsoft Xbox One Wireless Adapter for Windows 10 to use on PC)
This latest update isn’t just for Fortnite Festival either. Fortnite‘s 29.30 patch has brought farm animals to Lego Fortnite, and it appears Epic will soon be adding new Marvel skins based on the 2017 movie Thor: Ragnarok.