Fortnite Rocket Racing To Close In October, A Thousand Laid Off At Epic Games
Epic Games has announced the impending closure of three of its more recent game modes, including Fortnite Rocket Racing. While racers have until October to enjoy the game, Ballistic and Festival Battle Stage will close in April. Epic has said the closures are necessary due to a “downturn in Fortnite engagement”.
The studio has also announced it is laying off 1,000 members of staff. The company is also closing down Horizon Chase and Horizon Chase Turbo,
Battle Royale Struggles
According to Epic’s post announcing the layoffs, a downturn in player numbers has taken its toll. In a blog post, the company said: “Today we’re laying off over 1000 Epic employees. I’m sorry we’re here again.
“The downturn in Fortnite engagement that started in 2025 means we’re spending significantly more than we’re making, and we have to make major cuts to keep the company funded.
“This layoff, together with over $500 million of identified cost savings in contracting, marketing, and closing some open roles puts us in a more stable place.”
The post went on to acknowledge difficulties faced across the genre, stating: “Some of the challenges we’re facing are industry-wide challenges: slower growth, weaker spending, and tougher cost economics; current consoles selling less than last generation’s; and games competing for time against other increasingly-engaging forms of entertainment.”
Like any live service game with seasons or battle passes, Fortnite sees peaks and troughs. The launch of a new series, or the addition of new skins and content packs, has historically seen numbers rocket.
At the end of 2024, Epic brought back the OG map and launched Fortnite Ballistic. According to fortnite.gg, player count peaked at 14 million.
Whether it’s Fortnite fatigue or a more general battle royale malaise, its peaks aren’t as peaky as they once were. Chapter 7: Season 1 launched at the end of November 2025 and only brought a peak count of 9 million.
According to industry commentators, players were already turning away from battle royale titles at the time, preferring open-world sandbox games. But the player count was still disappointing.
Then, in March 2026, Epic took the incredibly and understandably unpopular decision to increase the price of V-Bucks. Previously, 1,000 V-Bucks cost $8.99. But, after the update, the same outlay only bought 800 V-Bucks.
Epic’s announcement didn’t help quell the anger, either, as they claimed the change was necessary to “help pay the bills”.
Fortnite-Specific Problems
However, the company also pointed to Fortnite-specific problems, saying: “Some of our challenges are unique to Epic. Despite Fortnite remaining one of the most successful games in the world, we’ve had challenges delivering consistent Fortnite magic with every season; we’re only in the early stages of returning to mobile and optimizing Fortnite for the world’s billions of smartphones; and in being the industry’s vanguard we have taken a lot of bullets in a battle which is only in the early days of paying off for ourselves and all developers.”
Fortnite has expanded its content offerings in recent years. Popular game modes include Zero Build, Reload, and LEGO Fortnite.
Fortnite Ballistic enjoyed early success, but player numbers have dwindled to a few thousand. Battle Stage never really took off in the first place. Rocket Racing, a crossover with Rocket League, did enjoy some spikes in player numbers, but fortnite.gg reports that it has not crossed the 2,000 player mark this year.
Developers tweeted: “After two years of high-speed competition, Rocket Racing will leave Fortnite along with all UEFN islands built with Rocket Racing templates in October 2026. Starting next week, Rocket Racing Quests will no longer be available, and the current track creation template will be removed from UEFN.
“There are no further Ranked rewards planned for this season. Nothing changes with your Vehicle Locker and you can still use your customized cars in Fortnite.
“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 UEFN 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 UEFN islands.”
The game’s popularity means it isn’t likely to go the way of Highguard, but further changes and cutbacks may be ahead.
