Highlights

  • PDP may release a guitar controller for Fortnite's rhythm mode, potentially hinting at a bigger development with Epic Games and Harmonix.
  • Fortnite's music-driven Fortnite Festival mode could soon have an official guitar-shaped peripheral, similar to those used in Harmonix's Guitar Hero and Rock Band games.
  • The release of an official guitar controller could attract fans of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, who may have been seeking a replacement for their beloved franchises.

Third-party gaming peripheral maker PDP could release a guitar controller for Fortnite's recently added rhythm mode very soon. As Epic Games currently owns legendary music game creator Harmonix, this upcoming release could be a tease to an even grander development.

Epic Games launched Fortnite's music-driven Fortnite Festival mode on December 9, offering players a rhythm-based experience that was reminiscent of Harmonix's Guitar Hero and Rock Band games. The permanent mode can be played with either a keyboard or a controller, but it could receive an official guitar-shaped peripheral akin to the ones that were used in Harmonix's past games within just a few weeks.

Art from Fortnite Festival, LEGO Fortnite, and Rocket Racing
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The California-based third-party peripheral maker PDP, which made the special controllers for the last mainline Rock Band game, Rock Band 4, posted an image featuring the silhouette of a guitar on its official Twitter page on December 12. The post had the caption "Rock On this January" that was followed by emojis of a tent, a waxing crescent moon, some musical notes, a guitar, and a controller. This string of emojis could be interpreted as a coded message for "Fort Night (Fortnite) Music Guitar Controller" and PDP's caption could be a giveaway of the said peripheral's release date.

Should PDP release an official guitar controller for Fortnite's rhythm mode, it could help attract Guitar Hero and Rock Band fans who have long sought after a replacement for their forgotten franchises. Fortnite Festival already plays a lot like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, so the lack of an instrument-shaped peripheral could be the only thing that's preventing some fans of these two series from giving the mode a try.

If an official controller's not enough to draw in these fans, then they could just wait a little longer as some people online have already started to conjure theories regarding a possible revival of the Rock Band series itself. Fortnite's developer Epic Games also owns Harmonix, so such a development would be well within the realm of possibility. Meanwhile, Microsoft currently has the rights to Guitar Hero after acquiring former franchise publisher Activision. Since Microsoft Gaming and Xbox head Phil Spencer previously revealed he was open to the idea of revisiting old gaming franchises following the buyout, it also wouldn't be too unlikely for a beloved series like Guitar Hero to get a refresh in the future.

Whether or not an official guitar controller for Fortnite's music mode gets released, the game's players will be guaranteed an eventful period leading up to 2024. In addition to Fortnite Festival, Epic Games also recently released a creative sandbox mode called LEGO Fortnite as well as the racing mode, Rocket Racing. These should keep even the most hardcore of Fortnite players busy until new modes get released.