Fortnite Festival Season 10 kicks off on August 26, bringing with it a new headliner: the iconic virtual band, Gorillaz. This season introduces a fresh music pass featuring both paid and free content, alongside the first significant update to the Festival mode in several months. We bid farewell to the previous headliner, Bruno Mars, and extend a warm welcome to 2D, Noodle, Russel, and Murdoc. Notably, this marks only the second time a group has headlined the Festival, following Metallica last summer, and Epic Games is approaching the Gorillaz integration somewhat uniquely compared to the metal legends.
Gorillaz Items Available in the Fortnite Shop
Unlike the Metallica event, where individual member skins were accessible via both the shop and the music pass, the four virtual members of Gorillaz will be split. For Season 10, 2D and Noodle`s cosmetic outfits will be available in the item shop. As expected, all Gorillaz skins feature a distinctive cel-shaded art style.
2D and Noodle arrive with their signature accessories, including a microphone stand back bling for 2D and a guitar for Noodle. The item shop offerings are further enhanced with a unique camo wrap, a new contrail, a jam track for the song “Clint Eastwood,” and both an emote and a jam track for the song “Dare.” A comprehensive bundle containing all these items, excluding the “Clint Eastwood” jam track, will be available, though players also have the option to purchase items individually.
The Gorillaz Music Pass
The remaining Gorillaz cosmetic items are featured in the new music pass, priced at 1400 V-Bucks or included with a Fortnite Crew subscription. Purchasing the pass instantly grants the Russel skin. By accumulating XP across any Fortnite mode, players can progress through the pass to unlock a variety of additional cosmetics, culminating with the Murdoc skin. Other unlockables include back blings, instruments (such as Russel`s drums and Murdoc`s bass), and four licensed jam tracks:
- On Melancholy Hill by Gorillaz
- Interstate Love Song by Stone Temple Pilots
- Run It Up by Hanumankind
- Montagem Tomada by MXZI
Free Rewards!
In true Fortnite fashion, the new music pass also offers a generous selection of free items, such as a keytar, an extra drum kit, a unique aura, and four new Epic-developed jam tracks, including the complete version of the song from a specific emote.
Festival Mode Enhancements
Epic Games typically reserves significant updates for the Festival mode for the start of new seasons. Therefore, the launch of Season 10 brings welcomed quality-of-life improvements for rhythm game enthusiasts, introducing several minor yet crucial changes designed to address specific player feedback.
- Lift notes have been visually redesigned to improve readability, a setting that can be toggled off if preferred.
- A “Good” popup has been added for near-perfect note hits, complementing the existing “Perfect” popup, aiding peripheral tracking.
- Song browsing on the Main Stage now includes sorting options by length and difficulty.
- Players using guitar controllers and other non-gamepad devices can now utilize strumming when calibrating with the in-game “tuneup” tool.
Additionally, the Festival Main Stage has received a thematic makeover, as showcased in the image above.
A Glimpse into Next Season
Unusually, Epic`s Season 10 announcement also contained a preview of the upcoming season, which was characterized as a “celebration” of Festival, featuring “Fortnite-original rewards and awesome music.” This might suggest that the next season will deviate from having a headlining artist such as Gorillaz or Bruno Mars, and Epic seems to be preparing players for this possibility.