Fortnite is a free-to-play video game platform developed by Epic Games. Fortnite originally was developed as the cooperative player-versus-environment survival game, Fortnite: Save the World, released in July 2017. The game's developed shifted significantly following the beta release of the Fortnite Battle Royale in September 2017, a battle royale game where 100 players compete to be the last player standing after dropping from an airborne Battle Bus onto an island featuring several points of interest (POIs), a wide spread of various weapons and gear, and a harmful storm front that periodically shrinks in size to draw players into smaller areas on the island. This new mode drew numerous players to the game. With Fortnite Battle Royale's success, Epic expanded the Fortnite platform for other games and user-created modes built atop the Unreal Engine and Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) system. By 2024, Fortnite supports the Epic-developed Fortnite Battle Royale, Fortnite: Save the World, Lego Fortnite, Fortnite Festival, and Rocket Racing, along with user-created games in Fortnite Creative and Fall Guys.
Since December 2017, Fortnite has included seasonal content tied to a battle pass with various cosmetic reward, each season lasting for about two to three months. Starting around the fourth season, in May 2018, Epic began introducing a narrative structure to their season to explain changes to the island and for introduction of licensed cosmetic items.
Background
To monetize the game, Epic Games had built an in-game storefront to offer cosmetics in the form of character skins, emotes, and other customization items for the player to use with their game avatar for Fortnite Battle Royale, using "V-Bucks" as the form of in-game currency to make these purchases. In December 2017, Epic Game introduced the use of a purchasable battle pass which featured numerous customization items that could be earned through playing the game along with V-bucks.[1] The battle passes are time-limited and can only be completed during the current Chapter, typically over three to four months, with Chapter 1 representing all content from September 2017 to the launch of the Chapter and battle pass system in December 2017.
Initially, each Chapter brought about changes to the layout of the island. With the launch of Season 4 in May 2018, Epic Games used a series of in-game events to tease a narrative structure that would be used for all future seasons,[2] and used further in-game events to explain changes to the island's map.[3] Chief creative officer Donald Mustard explained that the idea of including narrative had been part of the concept of Fornite Battle Royale from the start, but because the game is primarily a multiplayer game, determining how to introduce story element had been difficult. Epic found that driving toward large, end-of-chapter events that would lead to changes in the island in the next season.[4]
Prior to the start of Chapter 2 in October 2019, Epic also introduced character skins and cosmetics based on licensed characters. Since then, Epic has broken the storyline into Chapters grouping several seasons, with each season adding further crossover content from other licensed properties.
Seasonal content
Chapter 1
Season
Period
Description
Season1 ("First Steps")
September – December 2017
Retroactively considered the 1st season of the 1st chapter upon the start of the second season.
Season2 ("Fort Knights")
December 2017 – February 2018
Medieval themed. Introduction of the battle pass, which initially had 70 tiers. January 2018 update saw the first map additions featuring 5 named points of interest including "Tilted Towers."
Season3 ("Meteor Strike")
February – April 2018
Space exploration themed. The Battle Pass was increased from 70 tiers to 100.
Season4 ("Brace for Impact")
May – July 2018
Superhero themed. Leading up to the start of Season 4, players had observed shooting stars crossing the game's map during Season 3, which later became small meteorites that hit the ground and caused some damage. Across all games a large meteor also started to appear, on pace to hit the game map to coincide with the start of Season 4, completely and utterly destroying one of the major landmarks, "Dusty Depot".[5][6] Furthermore, superhero and villain bases appeared on the Island, which turned out to be for a "movie" being filmed on the island. However, in the remnants of the meteor, a mysterious pod was found, and later opened up to reveal a character simply known as "The Visitor". Here, the Visitor traveled to the villain lair, containing a prop rocket, and modified the rocket for his usage. Finally, on June 30, 2018, the rocket fired, and created a massive interdimensional rift above the Island.[7] The first collaboration with Marvel included a limited-time event where players could play as or fight against Thanos.
Season 5 ("Worlds Collide")
July – September 2018
After the rocket launch event, the rift grew larger over the next few days, with some in-game objects vanishing and new objects from other realities spawning.[8] As part of its marketing, Epic planted a real-world version of the "Durrr-Burger" restaurant sign in the California desert, with clues alluding to locations of real-world version of the game's loot llamas located globally.[9] The season began with changes of the map due to this rift, with a large Viking village appearing on a hill, and the entire southeastern section of the map being replaced with a desert. Smaller rifts remained as a gameplay element within the season, teleporting the player to a high elevation and to re-land elsewhere in the map.[10]
Halloween themed, also known as "Darkness and the Cube". Near the end of the 5th season, another one-time event occurred in which the rifts created by the rocket launch closed up, leaving a large purple cube with glyphs on its surface in the game world, which players nicknamed "Kevin". "Kevin" moved on its own volition throughout the season, creating anomalies and corruption in its wake, eventually sinking into Loot Lake and emerging at the start of the season as a large floating island, containing the island once in the centre of Loot Lake, which moved around the map slowly, before returning to Loot Lake and opening a portal in the sky. This portal allowed beings known as "Cube Monsters" to appear across the map and attack players. Ultimately, Kevin overloaded and exploded, temporarily teleporting all players into a white, bottomless void known as the In-Between, where a Rift-shaped butterfly briefly appeared and transported players back to the map. On return to the map, Loot Lake had returned to normal, but with many smaller islands made up of the "remains" of Kevin.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18]
Season 7 ("You Better Watch Out")
December 2018 – February 2019
Winter / Holiday / Arctic themed with the slogan "You Better Watch Out". As the sixth season concluded, a snow cloud appeared over one corner of the map, followed by a large iceberg dubbed "Polar Peak" at the onset of Season 7 that collided with the island and covered a third of the map in snow with other new features, including a large castle on top of Polar Peak that had been buried deep in the snow. Initially, the map's features celebrated Christmas. Later, a large ice sphere appeared above the castle, warning of an upcoming winter storm. Soon, the Ice King, who had been trapped in the castle, emerged to cast a spell that unleashed a winter storm across the whole map, and summoned Ice Fiends (similar to the Cube Monsters) to attack players.[19]
Season 8 ("X Marks the Spot")
February – May 2019
Tropical / Pirate themed. In the final days of the 7th season, the island was rocked by earthquakes that formed cracks on the ground,[20] eventually heralding the appearance of a large Volcano on the northeast corner of the map, created by a Prisoner of the Ice King, with an affinity for fire. The Volcano eradicated the nearby features and replaced them with a large jungle, containing a lagoon (named Lazy Lagoon) and an Aztec-like temple complex (named Sunny Steps). The Volcano also created dangerous lava flows surrounding it.[21] Over the course of the season, digging sites began appearing across the island, before uncovering a large, vault-like structure underneath Loot Lake, known as the Vault. The Vault eventually began to power up over time, through the usage of 5 runes that powered through their own means. Another Marvel event to coincide with the release of Avengers: Endgame was released, with Black Widow and Star-Lord skins being added. Near the end of the season on May 4, a special event called "The Unvaulting" took place, which allowed players to enter the Vault into a dimension of the same name. This dimension gave players the ability to vote for 1 of 6 removed items to be reintroduced into the game. It also is what housed the Zero Point, an orb of pure, powerful energy created by and as old as the Big Bang, serving as the beating heart of the entire Omniverse and all Reality, guarded by a woman named Singularity. After the Drum Gun won the vote, the Volcano erupted, and volcanic rocks flew out of it. These huge rocks struck and destroyed Tilted Towers and Retail Row, as well as severely damaging Polar Peak's mountain.[22]
Season 9 ("The Future Is Yours")
May – July 2019
Futuristic / Cyberpunk themed. This marks as the penultimate season of Chapter 1. At the start of this season, the locations destroyed by Season 8's Unvaulting had been reconstructed and revitalized in a "futuristic" fashion, with Tilted becoming Neo Tilted and Retail becoming Mega Mall.[23] This was done through the usage of the Zero Point's power, through a massive cable attached to the Vault. After a while, the damage sustained to Polar Peak revealed a monster - known as the Devourer - living inside, which eventually escaped and began swimming around the island, leaving footprints in other locations. Drones in the Volcano's caldera, converted into a factory after previously becoming a power plant, concurrently started to construct a giant mech called the "Mecha Team Leader", under the control of Singularity. At an event at the end of the season held on July 20, the Mecha Team Leader activated and attacked the Devourer, rampaging across the island. The Mecha Team Leader, severely damaged, was forced to pull the Zero Point out of the Vault, using its power to best the Devourer, before killing it with a giant sword held in Tilted under a statue of Singularity, before flying off, leaving the monster's corpse and sword behind as well as the now severely-damaged Zero Point.[24] The Zero Point continued to destabilize over the latter part of the season and, as seen in the Season X teaser trailer, it created an interdimensional blast, causing the events of the following season.[25]
Season X ("Out of Time")
August – October 2019
Time Travel / Throwback themed. This marks as the final season of Chapter 1. The remnants of the Zero Point's explosion in Season 9 caused a shift in time and space on the Island, leading to the return of Dusty Depot (from an alternate universe), with the meteor that struck it frozen in time above.[26][27] Inside the meteor contained a character known as The Scientist, who was a part of a group known as "The Seven" - a group which The Visitor was also a part of. In order to bring the other members of The Seven to the Island, the Scientist created rift zones across the Island, which brought in past locations and locations from other universes, such as Pandora from Borderlands and Gotham City from the DC Universe. Skins of Psycho Bandit from Borderlands and Batman and Catwoman were also added. The season culminated in a live event known as "The End". First, The Scientist launched a rocket from Dusty Depot, with the rifts above each rift zone opening to allow the 6 other rockets of The Seven to travel through. Then, the 7 rockets unfroze the meteor and took it through a rift, before positioning it above the frozen-in-time Zero Point, in order to strike and explode it, so that it could be re-contained. This created a black hole, which consumed the entire game itself. Subsequent to this event, the game was unplayable for roughly 36 hours with the game's screens only showing the black hole.[28] During this period, players could enter the Konami code to play a mini-game.[29]
A new season that revamped the game's mechanics and introduced a new map following the destruction of the old map from the black hole at the end of Chapter 1 Season X.[31] After the 36 hour downtime, the black hole collapsed and reorganized the Island's matter, creating the new map and recontaining the Zero Point. This Season introduced multiple new mechanics, such as picking up downed teammates (or enemies) and either carrying them to different locations or throwing them, and also the ability to swim and fish for loot. Boats were also added to the game, which increased mobility in water. In addition, players controlled by artificial intelligence, known as "bots" were added, and are present in some matches as "filler" players. In November 2019, the season was extended until February 2020, which included a winter-themed event, a live Star Wars event, and rewards for everybody. Moreover, streamer Ninja got his own skin. On December 14, the Millennium Falcon came to Fortnite island for a live event, which served as a teaser for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and Rey, Finn, Kylo Ren, Zorii Bliss, Stormtrooper, and Sith Trooper were added as outfits. On December 24, the map was covered with snow, making snowstorms appear and reduce visibility either lightly or largely. The season was extended twice, once to February 8, and another time to February 20.
Season 2 ("Top Secret")
February – June 2020
Secret agent themed. Following Season 1, a mysterious group known as the Agency, led by a man named Midas with the associated "golden touch", takes control of the island, under two competitive divisions: Shadow (black) and Ghost (white). These two factions competed against each other in spy games. Various landmarks conceal small safe houses for agents of either faction that can be raided for loot. Several large secret bases are established across the coasts and center of the Island, where the Agency's main base is, each heavily guarded by many henchmen and a powerful unique elite agent armed with a powerful weapon, all controlled by artificial intelligence. Players were given certain methods of compromising the bases' defenses, such as adopting disguises and disabling the defense system's power source, and were able to raid a base's vault and obtain valuable loot upon defeating its elite agent in a boss battle. The season's battle pass allowed players to unlock outfits based on these elite agents, complete missions on their behalf to eventually unlock a mutually exclusive, faction-specific version of them (Ghost or Shadow) through one final mission per outfit, and also obtain the Marvel antihero Deadpool.[32] Other collaboration skins included Psylocke, Domino, and Cable, as well as YouTuber Loserfruit and rapper Travis Scott, who performed in an in-game concert. Players could also "shakedown" downed enemies to briefly expose the location of their allies. The season was originally planned to end in late April 2020, but was delayed to June 4,[33][34] then June 11, and finally June 17 due to events surrounding the racial unrest in the United States.[35]
Aquatic-themed, codenamed "Splashdown!" In a live event for transitioning from the last days of Season 2 to 3, Midas activated a device that he and been constructing under the Agency's main base; this was in an attempt to destroy the Storm, but failed and ended up creating a large wall of water, held back only by a weakening shield. Furthermore, the device seemed to also temporarily break the Loop (see Season 5 below), and it teleported players to what then seemed to be an Agency office, where a brief interaction with a character resembling the default outfit "Jonesy" occurred (later revealed to be the IO HQ and Agent Jones respectively, again see Season 5 below). In-game, the water acted as the storm front, as it still constricted the "play-area" on the map, and players trapped within it took damage, though players are able to swim with better mobility while within the wall of water.[36] Part of the season included cross-promotional content with Aquaman and Black Manta, as well as YouTuber Lachlan. The wall of water broke at the beginning of the season, leaving most of the map submerged underwater. Throughout the season, the water levels started to subside, later revealing part the map named Coral Castle, seemingly inspired by the city of Atlantis.[37]
Season 4 ("Nexus War")
August – December 2020
Marvel themed. This season contained a Marvel themed battle pass and POIs. As seen in an in-game, readable comic Season 3, it was shown that Thor and Galactus were transported to the Island by a rift, after Galactus was tempted by the energy of the Zero Point coming from the rift. In order to stop Galactus from consuming the Zero Point, Thor summoned numerous superheroes and supervillains from the Marvel universe,[38][39] including She-Hulk, Groot, Storm, Dr. Doom, Mystique, Iron Man, and Wolverine as the "secret"/bonus outfit in the Battle Pass. A non-Marvel collab outfit, occurring during the Halloween event, was J Balvin. In the season finale, a live event titled "The Devourer of Worlds". Galactus finally approached the island to consume the Zero Point, threatening a total collapse of all reality. To prevent him from doing so, the superheroes gathered a massive fleet of Battle Buses loaded with green bombs and driven by the players, to lure Galactus into inhaling them all, which would send him back to his own reality. After Galactus sent waves of drones to counter this attack, the heroes and players managed to get the buses inside Galactus, causing a massive explosion. Galactus was then sucked into a rift, sending him back to his reality. However, earlier in the event, the Zero Point had been pulled out of the center of the Island by Galactus and was severely damaged, leading to the events of the following season.[40][b]
Season 5 ("Zero Point")
December 2020 – March 2021
Hunter themed. This season[40] marked the first iteration of the Fortnite Crew subscription.[42] After the events of the Season 4 finale, the Zero Point had created a massive desert in the centre of the island and had brought some old locations back, and stood hovering high above the island. An agent of the Imagined Order, or IO - a millennia-old organization (based in the underground of the Island) dedicated to controlling and experimenting on the Zero Point and the Island, to eventually achieve perfect "order" across all realities (as well as the implied controllers of the Agency prior to the Season 2 event) named John "Jonesy" Jones, was tasked with recruiting various hunters from different realities (serving as this season's promotional segment, featuring tie-in characters such as The Mandalorian and Grogu from The Mandalorian, Kratos from God of War, Master Chief from Halo, Michonne and Daryl Dixon from The Walking Dead, the T-800 and Sarah Connor from The Terminator, Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe, Chun-Li and Ryu from Street Fighter, Ripley and the Xenomorph from Alien, and Ant-Man from Marvel) in order to keep every player within the Loop, the 22-minute cycle of combat which every player, or "Looper", is trapped in, while trying to avoid drawing attention of The Seven,[43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51] who are later revealed to be working against the IO, wanting to break the Loop to set every Looper free. Jones is shown to be the source of all the "Jonesy"-based outfits in the game, each of which is a "Snapshot" of Jones - semi-perfect clones created by someone escaping the Loop, which also suggests that Jones has entered and left the Loop many times, as an IO agent. A new gameplay feature called "Bars" was introduced, an in-game currency earned by looting, completing quests from newly introduced NPCs, or completing "bounties" - quests requiring a player to eliminate another player - that are saved between matches and can be used to buy items and/or weapons from NPCs or "vending machines", to "hire" NPCs to join their team as AI players, as well as for other things.[43] In this season, the Predator from the Predator franchise made an appearance as an unlockable outfit, as well as a hostile NPC.[52] Players could also unlock a Flash character outfit,[53] as well as obtain items, outfits and other cosmetics based on the film Tron: Legacy.[54] Moreover, YouTuber LazarBeam got his own skin. Near the end of the season, the Zero Point started to gradually destabilize, becoming visibly unstable with pulsating effects appearing around it. Additionally, certain NPCs began to express concern with dialogue about the Zero Point.
Season 6 ("Primal")
March – June 2021
Wilderness themed. After abandoning the IO due to them doing nothing to stabilize the Zero Point, Jones summoned and got help from the leader of the Seven known as The Foundation (portrayed by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), to help stabilize the Zero Point in exchange for information on the Imagined Order's leader, Geno, and the whereabouts of two members of The Seven, known as "The Sisters". This was offered as a single-player experience, for the first time in the game's history. Once completed, a new location called The Spire was created at the center of the island in order to seal off and stabilize the Zero Point, with The Foundation trapped within the Spire and Jones trapped in the Loop. However, a "reality wave" created by the Zero Point replaced the surrounding area's modern technology with primitive tools, forming a "Primal" biome and sending the Island to a primal age. Furthermore, wild animals were added, which roam throughout the island. Licensed tie-in crossover characters that were new in this season included Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, Raven and Beast Boy from Teen Titans, Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn, Kelsier from Mistborn, and Neymar Jr. arriving as the secret outfit of the Battle Pass.[55][56]
Season 7 ("Invasion!")
June – September 2021
Alien invasion themed. Near the end of the previous season, UFO encounters began randomly occurring on the Island - players would be abducted and teleported to other areas of the map.[57] The aliens, known as the Last Reality, then invaded the Island, resulting in the Imagined Order returning to the Island and beginning reconstruction underground, led by their military leader Doctor Slone - the season focused on the conflict between the Imagined Order and the Aliens. As soon as they arrived, the Last Reality's Mothership fired a large beam at the Spire, destroying it and unintentionally setting the Foundation free, who ended up getting rifted to a mysterious ocean - later revealed to be in Gotham City.[58][59] In the season finale, Slone hatched a plan to sneak bombs upon the Mothership, hoping to end the Invasion. After the bombs were brought onto the Mothership with the help of several Loopers, it was then revealed that the Mothership was carrying, and was powered by, several Cubes just like Kevin from Season 6, and that the Last Reality were both the controllers and people of the Cubes. As the Mothership exploded, with Slone leaving the Loopers to die, large debris and several Cubes came crashing down onto the Island, ending the Invasion but causing chaos on the Island. The Loopers were able to survive by "rebooting" one of the Cubes, turning it blue.[60] Tie-in crossover characters offered through the Battle Pass included Superman, fashion icon Guggimon, Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith from Rick and Morty, and esports player Bugha.[61]
Season 8 ("Cubed")
September – December 2021
Darkness / Cube themed. This marked the final season of Chapter 2. The Cubes that crashed on the Island were all scattered across the Island, alongside the mysterious appearance of a Golden Cube. The season followed the Cubes' corruption of the Island, wreaking havoc across it and opening portals to a monster-filled reality called the Sideways.[62] Near the end of the season, beginning with the Halloween-themed "Fortnitemares" event, the Cube Queen - leader of the Cubes - appeared out of the Golden Cube. Her main goal being to destroy all realities, she went dormant in a golden sphere for over a month, slowly converging all the Cubes in the centre of the map, and constructing a large frame called The Pyramid. Eventually, in the season and chapter finale event titled "The End", she burst out of the sphere, and used the Pyramid to summon a portal to the Last Reality, causing several UFOs and Motherships to enter and rain down destruction on the Island, destroying the blue "Blevin" cube in the process. However, the Foundation, who had escaped Gotham City, managed to arrive on the Island and rescue Jones (who had been in Slone's captivity following Season 6). In an attempt to save the Island, The Scientist and The Visitor appeared and rescued the Loopers, whilst the Foundation manipulated IO technology in order to make the Zero Point flip the Island - revealing another Island, known as the Flipside, that had been on the underside of this one all along. As the Island was slowly flipped, the Last Reality were forced to retreat due to their weakness to water, and a large wave created by the flipping knocked out the player as downtime started.[63] Tie-in crossover characters offered through the Battle Pass and in-game Item Shop included Carnage and Dark Phoenix from Marvel, Paul Atreides and Chani from Dune,[64]Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine from the Resident Evil series,[65]Jinx from League of Legends (based on her appearance in Arcane),[66] and Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and Kakashi Hatake from Naruto: Shippuden.[67]
Chapter 3
Season
Period
Description
Season 1 ("Flipped")
December 2021 – March 2022
This season marked the start of Chapter 3 of Fortnite Battle Royale. After "The End" live event, the players began to slowly drift back towards the Island, before reaching it once downtime ended. A short cutscene involving The Foundation played, where it was revealed that the Fortnite world was a two-sided, flat piece of hollow land centred around the Zero Point, encased in an orb floating in space. The new map brought many new locations, as well as returning old ones, such as Tilted Towers and Shifty Shafts. It was noted that this map bore a striking resemblance to the Chapter 1 map, with a volcano in the same place as the Chapter 1 volcano, the desert in the southeast, Tilted Towers and Loot Lake in the same place and more. New features included knee-sliding, new consumables/weapons/items and new tents, which could be used to store items between matches. Tie-in crossover characters offered through the Battle Pass and in-game Item Shop include The Foundation/Dwayne Johnson,[68]Spider-Man, MJ and the Green Goblin from Marvel (including outfits based on Spider-Man: No Way Home),[69][70]Clint Barton and Kate Bishop based on their appearances in Hawkeye,[71]Marcus Fenix and Kait Diaz from Gears of War,[72]Boba Fett and Fennec Shand based on their appearances in The Book of Boba Fett,[73]Vi from League of Legends (based on her appearance in Arcane), Nathan Drake and Chloe Frazer from Uncharted (including their versions from the 2022 film),[74] and Ezio Auditore da Firenze and the female version of Eivor from Assassin's Creed.[75] Near to the end of the season, earthquakes began to happen across the Island, revealed to be due to the IO drilling to the Flipside. They then set up a new base in the mountains, known as Covert Cavern, and began to expand their drilling across the Island, as they and The Seven prepared for war.
Season 2 ("Resistance")
March – June 2022
Following the drilling, the Imagined Order found their way onto the island via the drills and launched a large-scale invasion, fighting the Seven's and the Looper's forces to reclaim the Island and Zero Point for themselves. Three new members of The Seven were introduced - The Origin, The Seven's tactician and army general, and former Cube King - having left the Cubes after witnessing their destructive nature - and the previously mentioned Sisters, The Imagined and The Order - Geno's twin daughters, who he had thrown into the Loop, before then being replaced by their Snapshots. Tie-in crossover characters offered through the Battle Pass and Item Shop included Doctor Strange and The Prowler from Marvel, Moon Knight/ Mr. Knight based on their appearances in Moon Knight,[76]Scarlet Witch based on her appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,[77]RoboCop,[78] American snowboarder Chloe Kim,[79]Twitch streamer Chica,[80] and YouTuberAli-A all received icon series skins.[81] For the first few days of the season, the building mechanic was removed. Eventually, a "Zero Build" mode was added was a permanent playlist alongside the core building modes.[82] Epic Games announced that they would donate all proceeds from V-Bucks to Ukraine in light of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine on Sunday, March 20. The following Monday, Epic claimed they had already raised $36 million worth of relief.[83] Near the end of the season, after the Seven had retaken most of the island, the IO drained out part of Loot Lake, constructing a large, towering device known as The Collider. Through in-game quests, it was revealed that its purpose was to destroy the Island, so that the IO could take full control of the Zero Point. In a last ditch attempt to save the Island, the Seven decided to locate and rebuild the Mecha Team Leader from Chapter 1 Season 9 - through tie-in Marvel "Zero War" comics, it was revealed that another member of the Seven, the Paradigm (portrayed by Brie Larson), had been the pilot of the Mecha Team Leader, and had presumably betrayed the Seven by conspiring with the IO to construct it back in Season 9. Following the Final Showdown event that season, it was revealed that the Mecha Team Leader had crash-landed on the Ice Moon - a frozen moon orbiting the Island that is also the source of the iceberg from Chapter 1 Season 7 - sending Paradigm into a dormant state. After the Seven located and reawoke her on the moon, she explained that had she not conspired with the IO to build the mech, they would have developed a doomsday device much like the Collider to protect the Zero Point from the Devourer. Following this, as the Season neared its end the Seven began to reconstruct the Mech to launch a final attack on the IO. In the season finale event titled "Collision", the player (and any squadmates) were transported to the Ice Moon, and into the head of the Mecha Team Leader (now called the Mecha Strike Commander). Led by Paradigm at the controls, the Mecha Strike Commander flew towards the island as the Collider began its final activation. The Mecha Strike Commander then began to approach the Collider, and players could shoot IO tanks and vehicles throughout the event. As the Mecha Strike Commander reached the Collider and prepared to destroy it with a laser sword, the ground beneath the Collider was detonated, sending the Mecha Strike Commander into a large pit and revealing the underground scale of the Collider, as well as its power source - the IO-reclaimed Zero Point, overcharged and approaching the base of the Collider slowly, ready to cause the destruction. In a short gameplay segment following the fall, the players, led by Jones and The Foundation, fought IO forces as they climbed up the Collider's base, with the objective of destroying the crystals atop it that would cause the detonation once the Zero Point touched them. As they progressed, several things occurred; as shown by the Zero War comics, The Imagined sacrificed herself to throw Geno - present at the Collider - into the Zero Point, and as players progressed up the base, they were stopped by Slone in a tank - the Mecha Strike Commander, reactivated but weakened, managed to slam its fist down on the tank, seemingly killing Slone in the process. Following this, the Zero Point centered on Geno's new location, and Jones and The Foundation jumped in to pursue Geno. In the end, the players succeeded in destroying the crystals and the Collider as a result, freeing the Zero Point and defeating the IO forces. Afterwards, as shown by the Zero War comics, Jones and The Foundation found both The Imagined and Geno seemingly disintegrating - a consequence of touching the unfocused Zero Point, causing their matter to be scattered across realities. Barely holding himself and The Imagined together, Geno warned the two of the dangers the Island may face without the IO's control/order, before both he and The Imagined fully disappeared. With Geno gone and their forces defeated, it appears that the IO has been vanquished once and for all - however, as shown by the very last page of the final Zero War comic, Geno was able to reassemble himself in some alternate reality.
Season 3 ("Vibin'")
June – September 2022
Party themed. After the defeat of the Imagined Order, the Zero Point has caused a large tree called the Reality Tree to blossom, and had covered a large corner of the Island with large mushrooms and flora. With the Island and Zero Point free, the Loopers were free to celebrate and enjoy their freedom, despite the Loop not yet being destroyed. Yet as they celebrated, a sinister, unknown entity seemed to watch over the Island, seen in the season's trailer. Tie-in crossover characters offered through the Battle Pass included Darth Vader from Star Wars, Indiana Jones,[84]Hinata Hyuga, Gaara, Itachi Uchiha, and Orochimaru from Naruto, Starfire from Teen Titans, WWE superstar John Cena, and Son Goku, Vegeta, Bulma, and Beerus from Dragon Ball Super.[85] At the end of the season, the Foundation and the Order mysteriously went missing.
Season 4 ("Paradise")
September – December 2022
"Chrome"/Infection/Corruption themed. This marked the final season of Chapter 3. Throughout Season 3, the Zero Point began summoning artifacts to the island - through in-game story quests, it was later learned that these were somewhat serving as distress beacons for the Zero Point - the freedom of the Zero Point had exposed it to new threats, one of which imminent; the same sinister entity from the trailer. Near the season's end, more in-game quests revealed a trace amount of a strange substance known as "Chrome" - which infects and converts anything it touches into itself - appearing across the island, presumably having came through the freed Zero Point. At the very end of the season, all the members of the Seven disappeared, except Paradigm - as shown in the Season 4 trailer, it is shown that the Visitor, Scientist, and Origin retreated to an underground lab to study the Chrome, before being infected and consumed by it, with the Foundation and the Order implied to also have been taken. The Paradigm was able to escape, aligning to the Zero Point and flying into it, being transported to another reality. Following this, the sinister entity from before appeared from the Chrome - a figure known as the Herald, the controller of the Chrome. The Chrome then infected a large portion of the eastern side of the Island, forming a base for the Herald, and leading into the season. Tie-in crossover characters offered through the game included Gwen Stacy from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Twitch streamer and YouTuber SypherPK, Black Adam based on his appearance from the eponymous DCEU film,[86] and Ash Williams from the Evil Dead franchise.[87] In addition, as mentioned before, Brie Larson plays The Paradigm. As the season progressed, the Chrome began to spread across the Island from the east, and locations began to separate from the ground via large balloons and hovering platforms, to escape the Chrome below - except most of Tilted Towers and Coney Crossroads, which became Tainted Towers and Chrome Crossroads respectively. Through in-game quests, the player established communication with the Paradigm, who informed the player that there was nothing they could do to prevent the impending doom of the Island, yet that she also had a plan for after this occurs. Furthermore, in-game quests revealed that the Herald and the Chrome were in fact a force of the Last Reality, seeking to attack the island once more following the failure of the Cubes. The leader of the entire Last Reality is also (presumably) revealed - not as the Cube Queen or Herald, but as an unseen entity simply known as The Nothing. In the season and chapter finale event, titled "Fracture", the Chrome managed to infect the entire island and the Loopers, and the Herald fused with the Reality Tree, destroying the entirety of both sides of the Island, and the protective orb/field around it - leaving the Zero Point fully exposed. Following this, the Zero Point began to pull chunks of land from other realities - as well as the Loopers stranded in space - towards it, in order to construct a new Island. Guided by the Paradigm communicating through the Zero Point, the Loopers aided this process by completing minigames in a 40-minute long segment, to collect "shards" of the Zero Point in order to accelerate the process, known as "Zero Fusion". After this segment, the Paradigm seemingly sacrificed herself - the Zero Point pulled a chunk of land from the reality she was in, and - as the new Island finished Zero Fusion - she disappeared, presumably having fused with the Zero Point to ensure the Zero Fusion completed. The Zero Fusion completed, forming an entirely new, one-sided island floating in space.
Chapter 4
Season
Period
Description
Season 1 ("Oathbound")
December 2022 – March 2023
Medieval themed. Following the Fracture event, an entirely new Island, made of pieces of other realities fused together, had been constructed, consisting of three biomes - a modern, grassy biome, a frozen, mountainous biome, and two medieval, autumn-like areas covered in yellow grass, and occupied by an advanced medieval organization known as the Oathbound. Leading the Oathbound is The Ageless, heavily implied to be a younger Snapshot of Geno by both appearance and the display of banners with symbols similar to the IO's logo around his main fortress, The Citadel. Furthermore, serving him is Stellan, who holds the title "Rift Warden". Tie-in crossover characters offered through the game included the Doom Slayer from DOOM, Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher, the Hulk from Marvel Comics, Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugo, Ochaco Uraraka, and All Might from My Hero Academia, NBA player Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks, YouTube personalityMrBeast, Isaac Clarke from Dead Space,Son Gohan and Piccolo from Dragon Ball Super,Sam Wilson from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (based on his appearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), and Adonis Creed from Creed III.[88][89][90] As the season progressed, the player could complete in-game quests to follow Stellan, and another character called AMIE - an artificial intelligence created by The Scientist during Chapter 3 Season 3 - who had also played a part during Chapter 3 Season 4 - who is determined to find out what happened to The Scientist and the remainder of The Seven (except Paradigm) following the events of Chapter 3 Season 4. Throughout the season, Stellan began construction of a portal device known as the "Rift Gate" at his tower in The Citadel, under orders of The Ageless. He also talked about a "Shapeless Man" who he sees in his dreams, and who also commanded him regarding the rift gate - this "Shapeless Man", implied to be Geno, communicating with him and The Ageless to construct the Rift Gate so he may return to the island, by how Stellan described him as talking about a world of "perfect order". Meanwhile, AMIE planned to construct a physical body out of a new resource called Kinetic Ore, found in the Medieval areas of the Island, so that she could travel through the Rift Gate in order to locate The Scientist and The Seven. She and the player also succeeded in decoding a message seemingly from the Last Reality, which suggested that The Seven (with the exception of the Paradigm and the Imagined), after being taken by the Last Reality, were under their captivity, and in grave danger or suffering. Near the end of the season, AMIE tampered with the active Rift Gate, altering its coordinates to where the message had come from, and travels through the gate to find The Seven. Following this, the Rift Gate began to destabilize, which Stellan theorized to be because someone - AMIE - had tampered with it. At the very end of the season, the Rift Gate was destroyed, and a red rift opened up above the Island. Stellan states that he is unsure of what is to come next, and if the Shapeless Man's plans have failed or not, yet he also states that he is ready to fight alongside the player and the Loopers against whatever may come next, should it be needed.
Season 2 ("Mega")
March – June 2023
Cyberpunk/Neo-Tokyo and Japan themed. Following the destruction of the Rift Gate, the rift that appeared had finally tore open, leading to a large, Japanese-themed biome crashing into in the southeast of the map, covering the smaller of the two medieval areas in the process. This biome includes a large, Neo-Tokyo inspired city called Mega City, as well as several Japanese-style locations. Controlling the biome is yet another faction known as the Peace Syndicate, who had also had a small presence on the Island from Chapter 3 Season 3. Tie-in crossover characters in the game included Eren Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman, and Levi Ackerman from Attack on Titan,Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield from Resident Evil (based on their appearances in the Resident Evil 2 remake), Anakin Skywalker, Padme Amidala, Darth Maul, and clone troopers from Star Wars,Goku Black from Dragon Ball Super, and Miles Morales and Miguel O'Hara from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.[91][92] As the season progressed, players could complete story quests from the Peace Syndicate, which described an ensuing conflict between other syndicates on the Island, as well as an unknown saboteur seemingly targeting information held on The Last Reality. Towards the end of the season, fissures began to appear across the island, with vines sprouting out of them. In addition, small earthquakes would occur randomly in-game around these fissures. In addition, a rumbling sound could be heard from them, similar to sounds emitted from the Zero Point in early seasons.
Season 3 ("Wilds")
June – August 2023
Jungle themed. The center of the island had collapsed, which revealed a jungle full of secrets, such as temples, vines, and mud, while Dr. Slone was revealed to have somehow survived having her tank crushed during the Collision event, with her waking up to find her and the tank in the newly revealed jungle. Tie-in crossover characters in the game included Optimus Prime and Optimus Primal from Transformers,Yennefer of Vengerberg and Ciri from The Witcher, a Nord Warrior from The Elder Scrolls Online, Philip J. Fry, Bender, and Leela from Futurama, The Terminator from James Cameron's Terminator franchise, Satoru Gojo, Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro, and Nobara Kugisaki from Jujutsu Kaisen, and WWE superstars Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair.[93][94] Atop one of the temples sat a ruined, telescope-like structure known as the Apparatus, which, as shown through in-game quests, Slone begins to study in hopes it can help her with her "plans" for the Island. In addition, the Zero Point could be found adjacent to the Apparatus, encased in stone, while Optimus Prime's voice could be heard on the radio, warning of a threat to the reality.
Heist themed. This marked the final "full-length season" of Chapter 4. Time-traveling vampire Kado Thorne had arrived on the island and had stolen various items and weapons from the past of Fortnite, so the players must rob him. Tie-in crossover characters included TikTok star Khaby Lame, Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars,Shoto Todoroki, Eijiro Kirishima, and Mina Ashido from My Hero Academia, Bumblebee and Megatron from Transformers,Michael Myers from Halloween, Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Alan Wake from the eponymous game.[96] Over the course of the season, players could help Dr. Slone and her associate Nolan Chance assemble a heist team. Near the end of the season, Slone and Nolan's team, with the help of the returning Jones, managed to steal Kado's time machine, but it began bringing in items from Chapter 1, like the Durr Burger head. At the end of the season, Kado's fate was left unknown as Jones prepared to go back in time.
Chapter1 themed "mini-season", also labeled as Chapter Fortnite: OG: Season Fortnite: OG. This marked the final season of Chapter 4. The Battle Pass (called the "OG Pass") featured mashups of Chapter 1 skins, such as Spectra Knight (a mashup of different Chapter 1 knight skins), Lil’ Split (mashup of Peely and Lil' Whip), Renegade Lynx (mashup of Renegade Raider and Lynx), and Omegarok (mashup of Omega and Ragnarok). The OG Pass was 50 tiers instead of 100. Jones traveled back in time to the Chapter 1 Island, which had a few differences as Jones' time jump had slightly altered history. Each week, the map updated to reflect the seasonal changes in Chapter 1, starting with Season 5 and then Season 6, 7/8, and 9/X. Some locations from Chapter 1 were however omitted for Season OG, such as Dusty Depot.[98] Tie-in crossover characters include Eleven from Stranger Things,Formula One racer Lewis Hamilton, Omni-Man, Invincible, and Atom Eve from Invincible, and rapper Eminem.[99]Metro Boomin also created the season's lobby track.[100] Slone recorded multiple audio logs that she sent back in time to Jones, instructing him to perform an "extraction" that involved salvaging the Zero Point and all of reality, and she bade Jones goodbye, as his actions will change the future. The Zero Point emerged from Loot Lake, and the Time Machine was strapped to the rocket, which began to launch. In "The Big Bang" finale event, events played out like Chapter 1's "The End" event, although the rocket— and later the meteor— started to glitch out due to the effects of the Time Machine. The glitching meteor struck the Zero Point and the island collapsed in on itself, but instead of a black hole forming, the Big Bang occurred, which restored the Zero Point to its healthy state. Old and new realities began to materialize, teasing Lego Fortnite, Rocket Racing, Fortnite Festival (with an Eminem concert), and Fall Guys x Fortnite. Lego Fortnite, Rocket Racing and Fortnite Festival were released in the opening days of Chapter 5, while Fall Guys was added in July 2024. An OG-inspired "Reload" mode was added in July 2024, while a standalone OG mode was added in December 2024, expanding on Season OG.[101]
After the events of the Big Bang event, the Fortnite timeline and Reality Zero have reset, forming a new Island and beginning a new timeline. Meanwhile, Peely, Jones' anthropomorphic banana friend, was taken hostage, plunging the island into a battle between two factions known as The Underground - led by Jones and his new partner Hope - and The Society, the faction holding Peely hostage, led by Hope's sister Valeria. Tie-in crossover characters include Peter Griffin and Ernie the Giant Chicken from Family Guy, Solid Snake and Raiden from Metal Gear, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, April O'Neil, Shredder, and Master Splinter from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, music artists The Weeknd and Lady Gaga, and Frieza and Cell from Dragon Ball.[102][103] Valeria planned to use Peely to interrogate Jones about an ancient chest, but it was foiled as Jones was able to rescue Peely from the Society. Valeria continued her search, which led to a massive arm carrying the chest to emerge from the ground. When the chest was opened by the players, a tornado of souls came out of it, leading Valeria to flee and leave the rest of the Society members behind.
Post-apocalyptic themed. Most of the Greek gods have also fled following Zeus' defeat, including Zeus himself, as the sandstorm made landfall on the south side of the Island, creating a large wasteland biome populated by marauders seeking control of the island. They were led by Megalo Don, who was accompanied by an ominous figure known as "The Wanderer". Tie-in crossover characters include the T-60 Power Armor from Fallout,Magneto, Cyclops, Jubilee, and Colossus from Marvel, the Employee from Lethal Company, musicians James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo from heavy metal band Metallica, YouTuber and Twitch streamer Nick Eh 30, Captain Jack Sparrow, Davy Jones, Elizabeth Swann and Hector Barbossa from Pirates of the Caribbean, Trunks, Android 17 and Android 18 from Dragon Ball, IG-11, Moff Gideon and Grogu (as a back bling) from Star Wars, and the Beans from Fall Guys.[105][106][107] The Tesla Cybertruck also arrived as part of the “Summer Road Trip” event. As Hope began to experience visions of the future due to the Pandora Gems the players stole from Megalo Don, the Oracle explained that Hope and Pandora's box are intertwined in fate (revealing her as Elpis from Greek mythology), but the Wanderer's interference had irreversibly altered their destinies. Sensing doom, Magneto planted Stark-made Rift Beacons across the Island to call for reinforcements to confront the Wanderer. Simultaneously, Megalo Don constructed a pipeline to power his Leviathan warship, but the Wanderer betrayed Megalo Don by sabotaging the pipeline, causing it to explode. Pandora's box was revealed under the pipeline rubble, and the Wanderer then took the box's powers for himself.
Hip hop music themed "mini-season" set in early Chapter 2, also labeled as Chapter Fortnite: Remix: Season Fortnite: Remix, with Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Ice Spice in charge of locations formerly associated with Midas' Crew. This marked the final season of Chapter 5. Like Season OG, "remixed" versions of Chapter 2 outfits were featured, such as Chaos Director (female variant of Chaos Agent), 1-Ball (mashup of 8-Ball and Scratch), Undercover Skye (Skye in a Guff disguise), Dynamo TNTina (a redesigned TNTina), and Meowdas (mashup of Midas and Meowscles). The late Juice Wrld watched over the Island from afar.[111] Hidden audio logs revealed Hope had been unsuccessfully reaching out to Valeria, telling her that she had disbanded the Underground as she was leaving the Chapter 5 Island to investigate her link with Pandora's box. All four rappers headlined a final concert similar to the Travis Scott event to conclude the season and chapter. Afterwards, the Rift Butterfly transported the players, Jones and Hope through a wormhole to a Japan-inspired Island. A mysterious artifact followed them out of the wormhole and fell towards the Island's surface.
Japanese folklore themed. Movement was expanded to include parkour mechanics, such as wall kicks and roll landings.[112] The artifact's impact on the surface had reawakened the Island's long-dormant magic, activating portals that allowed demons to invade. Hope joined forces with Island natives Kendo and Jade to fend off the demons as she searched for the artifact with Jones.
^Due to the Epic Games v. Apple and Epic Games v. Google lawsuits, iOS and macOS players via the App Store and the Epic Games Store, respectively, as well as Android players via the Google Play Store, will continue to play Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 3, but the iOS and macOS clients via App Store and Epic Games Store, respectively, as well as the Android client via the Google Play Store, will no longer update. In 2024, players in the European Union were allowed to play again on iOS and macOS via the Epic Games Store.
