Bruno Mars Returns to Fortnite As Festival’s Season 9 ‘Icon’ — New Tracks, Digital Items, and More

Welcome back to Fortnite, Bruno Mars: The Honolulu-born artist is officially headlining Fortnite Festival’s ninth season.

Epic Games’ Fortnite revealed the return of Mars in a brief announcement ahead of Festival’s ninth-season kickoff today. For the uninitiated, Festival is a Harmonix-developed rhythm game distinct from Fortnite proper.

And owing to its music emphasis – including purchasable in-game tracks and digital items – Festival is inherently well-suited for artist features. Before Mars became the sub-title’s latest “icon,” Sabrina Carpenter took the lead on Festival’s eighth season.

Now, 39-year-old Mars is bringing all sorts of virtual goods into the fold. First, two tracks – “Die With a Smile” by Mars and Lady Gaga as well as “APT.” by Rosé and Mars – have arrived in the appropriate shop.

Also available to buy in Festival is Mars’ Portuguese-language “Bonde do Brunão.” According to the marketplace, each track will set users back 500 V-Bucks, or $4.50 based on the in-game currency’s current pricing.

(Side note on the streaming-monetization front: “For Season 9, monetization of VOD content featuring eligible Jam Tracks will be limited to the first seven days of the Season. No takedown notifications should occur during or after the seven days,” Epic/Fortnite elaborated. After this week-long window, though, “creators should expect to receive monetization claims by the respective rights holders.”)

Alternatively, the tracks are available in (slightly) discounted packages containing other digital products. Just in passing, the latter include Bruno Mars outfits, emotes, instruments, and more. If purchased for Festival, most of these items can also be used in Battle Royale mode, their descriptions show.

And for Mars superfans, a World Tour Bundle includes all the digital items as well as the 59-second “Bonde do Brunão” track. This expansive package is priced at an astonishing 5,000 V-Bucks ($36.99) but is currently available for a “discounted” 2,400 V-Bucks. One can buy 2,800 V-Bucks for $22.99.

(Without digging too far into the multifaceted specifics here, Fortnite sells a Crew Pass offering a Music Pass and more for $11.99 monthly. And the distinct Music Pass for Festival’s ninth season costs 1,400 V-Bucks.)

Translation: there’s definitely a revenue upside for Mars’ Fortnite tracks and items, the latter of which can, as mentioned, be used in the more popular Battle Royale. According to Fortnite.gg data, Festival’s Main Stage has maintained an average player count of around 10,000 across the past year – with peaks substantially higher than that.

Furthermore, April 2025 – when Carpenter’s previously noted items and tracks rolled out – brought a close to 40% spike in average peak player count from March, the resource shows.