Epic is ending 3 Fortnite game modes following its latest round of layoffs: 'We failed to build something awesome enough to attract and retain a large player base'

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Rocket Racing, Ballistic, and Fortnite Festival Battle Stage are all being ended, and Epic is also removing Horizon Chase Turbo from sale.

Fortnite Ballistic FPS
(Image credit: Epic Games)

Alongside the layoff of more than 1,000 employees announced earlier today, Epic is also ending a trio of Fortnite modes—Rocket Racing, Ballistic, and Festival Battle Stage—and removing the racing games Horizon Chase and Horizon Chase Turbo from sale.

The Fortnite modes are being removed because, Epic said, "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."

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Horizon Chase Turbo is not a Fortnite mode, but rather a standalone game inspired by arcade racers of the 1980s and '90s released in 2018. And it's apparently a pretty good one: The Epic Store doesn't support user reviews but Steam does, and over there Horizon Chase Turbo boasts a "very positive" rating across more than 4,000 user reviews—not a monster hit but definitely a 'recommend' for fans of the genre. A demo for Horizon Chase Turbo is also available on Steam, so you can get a few laps in before it's gone even if you don't feel like throwing money at it.

Both the original Horizon Chase, a mobile game, and Horizon Chase Turbo will be removed from sale on June 1. Horizon Chase 2, which launched for PC as an Epic Games Store exclusive in 2023, will remain available. The likelihood of new games in the series being developed seems not great: Epic acquired developer Aquiris in 2023 and renamed it to Epic Games Brasil, saying it would "create groundbreaking content and social experiences within Fortnite."

Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

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