Fortnite Festival guitar controllers: What works and what doesn't?
Rock Band is back... kind of.
Fortnite Festival is now well into the swing of things, heading into its third season with lots of new updates, a new Icon, and now even guitar controller support.
Headlined by Bad Guy singer Billie Eilish, fans can expect plenty of rewards and incentives to jump into the new musical rhythm game over the coming months.
And best of all, the new mode will be aligned closer than ever with the likes of Guitar Hero and Rock Band.
So, if you have any old guitar controllers lying about, it's time to unpack them, blow off the dust and start shredding. Everyone from Blink-182 to Blur to Britney Spears features in-game, proving the range of choices available.
First of all, it's good to know exactly what guitar controllers are compatible as part of Epic's latest update. With that, we've rounded up all the details below, so you know exactly what works and what does not.
Can you use guitar controllers with Fortnite Festival?
Yes, certain guitar controllers now work with Fortnite Festival, with Epic Games finally having delivered the much-requested feature.
Fans have been calling out for a tangible Rock Band or Guitar Hero-style experience in Fortnite Festival ever since the musical experience first went live.
It's important to note, however, that not every single guitar controller ever made is compatible with Fortnite Festival — it's only a select number of guitars that work with the game, so let's get down to the business of explaining which ones. See below for more info.
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Which guitar controllers work in Fortnite Festival?
On 23rd April 2024, Epic Games made it so that Rock Band 4 guitar controllers are compatible with Fortnite Festival.
This allows players to utilise the instrument on Pro Lead and Pro Bass song parts on the main stage across PlayStation, Xbox and PC.
Here's the full list of Rock Band 4 guitar controllers that work in Fortnite:
- Riffmaster Wireless Guitar Controller for PlayStation – PS5, PS4
- Rock Band 4 Wireless Fender Jaguar Guitar – PS5, PS4
- Rock Band 4 Wireless Fender Stratocaster Guitar – PS5, PS4
- Riffmaster Wireless Guitar Controller – Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC
- Rock Band 4 Rivals Wireless Fender Jaguar Guitar for Xbox One – Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC
- Rock Band 4 Wireless Fender Stratocaster Guitar for Xbox One – Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC
Please note that the latter two require a Microsoft Xbox One Wireless Adapter for Windows 10 to use on PC.
Can you use Guitar Hero controllers with Fortnite Festival?
No, Epic has not made Guitar Hero controllers compatible with Fortnite Festival at the time of writing.
If you have an older guitar controller than the ones we mentioned in the previous section, one from the Guitar Hero era, it won't work with Fortnite Festival. For now, it's only Rock Band 4 ones that work.
The US developer did confirm, however, that it will look to introduce more support for past controllers.
"We’ll have more instrument controller news to announce in the future, so follow Fortnite Festival’s social channels to make sure you don’t miss a beat!" it confirmed via a blog post.
Will Fortnite Festival get its own new guitar controllers?
Another question many are curious about is whether Epic Games will make any new instrument controllers for those of us who don't have old Guitar Hero or Rock Band peripherals lying around.
If we had to hazard a guess, it would make a lot of sense for Epic to make a new guitar controller and sell it as Fortnite-branded merch. There are plenty of variations and collaborations that could be taken advantage of too.
That said, nothing has been confirmed at the time of writing. If Epic does make an announcement, we'll make sure to update this piece.
Fortnite is available across PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC via the Epic Games Store.
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Authors
Matt Poskitt is a freelance journalist who specialises in arts and culture – be that movies, TV, video games, tech or otherwise. Matt headed up the games and entertainment section at T3 (Future Publishing), alongside being found across The Guardian, CNET, PC Gamer Mag, GamesIndustry.biz, Insider, iNews, IGN, TechRadar, PC Gamer Mag, NME and many more.
Rob Leane is the Gaming Editor at Radio Times, overseeing our coverage of the biggest games on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC, mobile and VR. Rob works across our website, social media accounts and video channels, as well as producing our weekly gaming newsletter. He has previously worked at Den of Geek, Stealth Optional and Dennis Publishing.