Fortnite map wiped out by black hole to mark end of Season 10
It is not clear when or even if the game will return
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Fortnite has been destroyed by a huge asteroid, and replaced with a black hole.
The in-game event wiped out the entire map and means that its millions of players are now unable to get into the game at all.
Instead, they have been encouraged to watch a mysterious live stream of a black hole.
The asteroid collision marked the end of Season 10. Developers Epic Games tend to mark the close of the game’s “seasons” with major events that can be watched within the game.
But it has led to a variety of questions about Season 11. Usually, such updates bring tweaks to the map or other alterations to the game – rather than wiping out the entire world and leaving it impossible to play.
It is not clear when or even if the game will return. (It is almost certain that it will, however, since Epic has made billions of dollars through the game.)
In the meantime, players have been encouraged to tune in to a wildly popular live stream which just shows the black hole. At some point, that will presumably reveal what is going to happen in Season 11.
Fortnite deleted everything else from its Twitter account and gave no more information about what had happened to the game.
Fans had expected Season 10 to come to a dramatic close, since Epic teased that there would be a major “The End” event over the weekend. It was also marked by a countdown timer which appeared within the game.
Players who were in the world when that timer reached its end saw a huge meteor shower fall on the map and seemingly destroy all of it. Those players then fell out of the world and the screen was replaced with the black hole – which continues to be all that is left of the game.
Here's one of the more minor changes – but one that might initially feel a little strange.
The boats in the new update also double up as cars (and very dramatic looking ones, to boot).
A lot of people are enjoying the song from the cinematic trailer.
It's 'Ruckus', by Konata Small.
Here it is, if you'd like to listen to it all:
The new version of Fortnite is still officially "early access", and you'll still see that glaring yellow label in the corner of the screen. That's despite the game being a couple of years old now, and into its second "chapter".
It's possible that Epic Games will never actually do a full release of Fortnite. Keeping it in this beta version makes it easier to push out new updates, and means that people are prepared to get them – which allows for major new updates like this.
There appears to be one specific part of the new map that just... kills you if you go into it. Others have reported dropping into the same area and dying, too.
(Although it should be noted that generally there are relatively few complaints about bugs and problems, especially given how fundamental the update is.)
The update page on the Epic Games website is not especially helpful:
Thankfully, we've got you covered. Here's what's new:
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments