Grammy-winning superstar Bruno Mars has been named as the “icon” for Epic Games‘ Fortnite Festival Season 9, capping off the Season 8 Festival with Sabrina Carpenter.
The new season launches Wednesday (June 19), and players will be able to unlock Mars’ new outfits, Jam Tracks and more via the Season 9 Music Pass, priced at 1,400 V-Bucks. They will also be able to access additional tracks including collaborations with Lady Gaga and ROSÉ in the Shop.
Mars joins other major artists who have been featured as “icons” on Fortnite, including The Weeknd, Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Metallica, Karol G, Snoop Dogg, Hatsune Miku, and most recently, Sabrina Carpenter. The Bruno Mars x Fortnite integration arrives as the artist maintains his position as one of streaming’s most consistent performers.
In January, Mars became the first artist to reach 150 million monthly listeners on Spotify, just over two months after he surpassed The Weeknd‘s previous record of 120.7 million monthly listeners.
The feat came even as Mars hasn’t released a new solo album for eight years. His most recent solo studio LP was his third, 24K Magic, which dropped in 2016. His recent successes are boosted by his smash collaborations:
- Die With A Smile with Lady Gaga, released in August 2024, with 2.62 billion Spotify streams, and;
- APT. with ROSÉ, released in October, with over 1.7 billion Spotify streams
For the Season 9 Fortnite Festival, two standalone Jam Tracks featuring the two songs will be available, both priced separately from the bundle.
The Die With A Smile Bruno Outfit based on the music video for Die With A Smile is also featured in the new season, and comes auto-unlocked after purchasing the Music Pass.
The Music Pass also features a Silk Sonic track, Leave The Door Open, bringing Mars’ Grammy-winning collaboration with Anderson .Paak into the gaming space. Additional premium rewards include the Last Reprise Guitar, modeled after the instrument featured in the Die With A Smile music video, and Red Hearts Kit Drums.
For fans seeking more content, the Fortnite Shop offers the World Tour Bundle throughout Season 9. The package includes the Bruno-San Outfit with a Bruninho Style variant, Bruno’s Collection Back Bling, and the Bonde do Brunão Emote.
Beyond the Bruno Mars integration, Season 9 introduces several enhancements to Fortnite Festival. Players can now browse their music library alphabetically. Epic Games has also restored all-time leaderboards for individual tracks, incorporating community feedback.
The update includes a True Random lobby music feature that cycles through players’ collections. For users with favorited tracks, the randomization draws from their curated songs.
For content creators, Epic Games is offering a seven-day window at the start of Season 9 to monetize videos featuring eligible Bruno Mars songs, provided their YouTube and Support-A-Creator accounts are linked. The eligible tracks include Bonde Do Brunão, Die With A Smile, and APT.
After the initial period, Epic Games said: “content creators should expect to receive monetization claims by the respective rights holders,” but noted that “no takedown notifications should occur during or after the seven days.”
The approach reflects Epic Games’ efforts to support creators. In 2023, Epic Games announced that creators of eligible Fortnite “islands” and experiences will receive a share of revenue based on engagement with their published content.
Under Fortnite’s new Creator Economy 2.0 program, Epic Games will place 40% of the net revenue from Fortnite’s Item Shop and related real-money purchases into the engagement pool.
Fortnite has been banking on artists to grow its user base. As MBW explained in a 2018 article, the online game provides new ways for music fans to engage and support their favorite artists.
In December 2024, Fortnite drew 14.3 million concurrent players for its ‘Remix: The Finale’ virtual concert featuring Snoop Dogg, Ice Spice, Eminem, and a posthumous tribute to Juice WRLD. The event surpassed the previous record of 12.3 million concurrent players set during a Travis Scott concert in April 2020.
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