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.
Jordan Fisher, a singer who plays Fortnite, has posted this cryptic series of tweets:
He notably says I'll be live, not it'll be live. But still – does that mean the game will be up at 12am PST, and he'll be able to stream it? Does it mean something else entirely? Who knows.
(12am PST is 8am in the UK.)
It certainly doesn't look from Ninja's Instagram stories like he expects there to be an update tonight...
The numbers are coming out of the black hole again (and some people are even suggesting they're coming out faster than before).
But they do appear to be the same numbers, so that might not mean anything.
That's it for tonight: we've reached the end of the day and the game hasn't gone live and doesn't show any sign of doing so any time soon.
In summary, there have been some clues, but only snatches of them and with little substance. What clues there are suggest that the game won't be live until some time on Tuesday – meaning that it will be down for around 36 hours, at least.
We'll be back first thing to see if it's up, and either commiserate or celebrate with you. Until then, good night, and enjoy that blue swirling void!
It's a new day, but still the old black hole. Nothing to report from overnight.
Both PlayStation Network and Xbox Live were hit by problems overnight, according to tracking website Downdetector. They're almost certainly not linked – but it has been a frustrating couple of days to be a gamer!
Streamer Tfue has gone live – and is suggesting that Season 11 or Fortnite 2 is about to kick off. Does he know something we don't?
Nick Eh 30 has gone live too – and written a similar, cryptic message about the update arriving soon...
(Given these streamers are in the US, it's a very unusual time to be waking up: it's 3.30am on the east coast. Why would they be waking up so early?)
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments