It’s “The End” of Fortnite (And I Feel Fine) 

“So what is going on with Fortnite that has you guys so excited?”

It was a simple question, but internally I reacted with a sense of indignation. Almost as if I was confused by the fact that someone didn’t know! That was what led to a conversation about what is happening with Fortnite that has many of the EFNcool staff excited for Saturday, December 4th and the subsequent Tuesday, December 7th.

Fortnite, the cultural juggernaut first person shooter battle royale game to rule them all, is about to undergo a MASSIVE change! The game is broken up into chapters, and seasons. Chapter 1 had 10 seasons, and chapter 2 is currently wrapping up it’s 8th season. Normally, the game has a simple change every season; a new battle pass, maybe a minor change or two to the map, perhaps even some kind of fun group event! But then there are the new chapters, and when those change, the game itself changes with them.

Of course the rumor mills and leaks have been flowing freely for the last few weeks. Rumors that the likes of Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Neo and Trinity, and the Grinch are making their way to the island seem to be fairly prevalent, as well as rumors regarding new weapons and new wildlife to populate the death battle setting. Speaking of the setting, the latest rumors have the new Fortnite island actually being comprised of one “main” island surrounded by several smaller islands with with different environments. Among these are Molten Mountain (an active lava spewing volcano), Dusty Desert (a barren wasteland of sand), and my personal favorite, Monster Mansion (a creepy mist shrouded spook-fest). To help navigate the expanded waterways, the game is also rumored to include jet-skis, sailboats, and the returning jet boats from the previous chapter. Again, these are just the popular rumors floating around the internet.

One thing about chapter 3 that HAS been confirmed, is that the game will make making the jump from Unreal Engine 4 to the latest version, Unreal Engine 5. With a tech leap this huge, the odds are fair that an entirely new download of the Fortnite game client will be needed in order to facilitate the change. Backing this theory is the fact that Fortnite will undergo a 3 day long downtime. Starting at the end of December 4th’s chapter concluding event (appropriately titled “The End”)the game will be unavailable until sometime on December 7th (the following Tuesday). That’s when the new chapter will begin and the game as players know it, will be changed.

Also interesting to note is that Epic Games (the developers behind Fortnite) recently acquired music game studio Harmonix; makers of Rock Band, Dance Central, and FUSER. Harmonix stated that they are looking forward to working with Epic to, “create musical journeys and game play for Fortnite.” As far as what that could mean for players is anyone’s guess. Maybe if you want to taunt using that one favorite emote of yours, you’ll have to actually do it in real life? Though I suspect Harmonix will use their existing connections with a wide array of musicians to bring more live music events to the game. Only time will tell.
So to answer the simple question of, “What is going on with Fortnite that has you guys so excited?”, the answer is EVERYTHING! If you’ve never played Fortnite before, or perhaps dismissed it outright, perhaps something coming with Chapter 3 will encourage you to check it out. It’s probably the most fun I’ve had with my friends all year long.

And EFNcool staff members including myself, Mason, and Eric and will be live streaming the special Chapter 2 closing event, “The End” on December 4th over at twitch.tv/trekkieb47. The event is scheduled for 4pm EST, 3pm CST and 1PM PST, but the stream will begin before that so keep an eye on both twitter.com/ZachLaVoy and twitter.com/Trekkieb47 for stream start time announcements that day.

See you on the island!