Fortnite just removed three major game modes with the latest update. The update, which went live on Thursday morning, marks a significant shift in Epic Games’ strategy. Instead of experimenting with a variety of modes and building on its broader platform ambitions, the company will scale back and focus on Fortnite’s core modes.

The decision to remove several Fortnite modes was made in March, shortly after Epic laid off 1,000 employees. As a result, Fortnite players can no longer play Rocket Racing, Ballistic, and one part of the Festival mode.

On a positive note, Fortnite Save the World just became free-to-play. Furthermore, many Fortnite players will soon receive another free Sidekick, and the update added another free skin, which is available to everyone.

Fortnite removes Ballistic, Rocket Racing, and Festival modes

Over the past few years, Epic Games leaned heavily into turning Fortnite into a platform, not just a game. While this experiment has been mostly successful, bringing thousands of developers and third-party games into Fortnite, some parts have struggled to gain traction. Back in 2024, Epic released several new modes with the launch of Fortnite Chapter 5. Today, a few of those modes were shut down.

Epic designed these Fortnite modes to attract different types of players and keep the ecosystem growing. Unfortunately, Ballistic didn’t quite take off as a tactical first-person shooter, while Rocket Racing quickly lost its appeal.

Fortnite Festival has been slightly more popular, but even this mode has just received a downgrade. The music mode no longer has the Battle Stage section, which featured PvP competition. On a positive note, the Festival mode overall seems to be doing well, as Epic announced more content coming to it in the near future.

Starting with Chapter 7 Season 2, Epic will shift its focus to Fortnite’s core modes, Battle Royale and Zero Build. At the same time, other popular modes, like Blitz and Reload, will be getting more content. The Fortnite creator will still be involved in expanding the ecosystem, as the company is reportedly working on an extraction shooter similar to Arc Raiders. However, this likely won’t be the main focus.

In addition to the core modes, creator-made content remains a strong element that contributes to Fortnite’s popularity and revenue. Epic will keep releasing new UEFN tools, allowing creators to recreate the modes that were removed, such as Ballistic.

While Fortnite’s platform ambitions aren’t going away just yet, Epic appears to be scaling them back in favor of stability and core gameplay. Whether this approach pays off will depend on how players respond in the coming months.

For players sticking with the core experience, there are still plenty of ways to make progress, including unlocking free Fortnite skins and using XP maps to level up faster.