Fortnite's No-Combat "Party Royale" Mode Launches This Week

For many players, Fortnite went from being their battle royale of choice to being... well, still a battle royale, but mainly a place to hang out. Epic Games is crystallizing that notion this week with the addition of a dedicated "Party Royale" mode this Friday.

A new post from Epic confirms what dataminers recently ascertained about this new mode: there'll be no weapons in its map at all. There's a new Paint Launcher, an aerial obstacle course, and boats to race, but no Victory Royales to be had.

On May 8 at 9 p.m. E.T. you'll be able to drop into Party Royale's map for the first time and catch a live performance featuring musicians Dillon Francis, Steve Aoki, and deadmau5 via the map's Main Stage area. Like the recent Travis Scott "Astronomical" show before it, Epic will also rebroadcast the DJ sets later on—but unlike Scott's show, it seems like these will be piped in videos and not a wild, world-bending event. Everybody who checks the mode out before Monday morning will also get a free set of neon wing cosmetics.

Certainly, the recent success of "Astronomical" speaks to just how many players are willing to drop into Fortnite for some non-violent fun: over 12.3 million players logged in to watch the premiere, setting a new record for Epic's battle royale. Clutch wins and pop-culture crossovers are nice, but it seems that just giving people a place to hang out and experience something cool together can also move the needle.

Judging by the datamined map, it looks like Party Royale will be chock-full of other things to do if you'd rather not spam dance emotes to deadmau5. Epic calls Party Royale "an experimental and evolving space," so it'll likely keep pace with the battle royale mode in terms of events and updates. As for what Fortnite can do with its events after wowing the world with a skyscraper-sized Travis Scott, well, we'll just have to wait and see.