It’s been barely two months since Fortnite Chapter 4, Season 4 began, and now it’s time to move on. Or… move back? It’s looking like when this season ends, time will actually move backward in Fortnite. That time machine that we pulled from Kado Thorne’s basement during all these heists isn’t just for show, it turns out.
Yes, it’s looking like the next season of Fortnite is going to be unprecedented in all sorts of ways, and it could introduce some major new collaborations with Lego or Doctor Who as well as let us play on an updated version of the Chapter 1 island. Let’s take a look at what we know so far.
When does the next Fortnite season begin?
The current season of Fortnite is scheduled to end at 11 PM PT / 2 AM ET on the morning of Friday, November 3. If this season changeover follows the now-standard pattern, the new season should go live after a few hours of downtime. Expect the servers to return by 7 or 8am ET on the morning of November 3.
Is it the start of Fortnite Chapter 5?
No, next season isn’t the beginning of Chapter 5. But it may not be Chapter 4, either. This new season has long been rumored to last only a month, and it’s looking like some kind of bridge season–like a month-long live event that will move us from the Chapter 4 island to whatever Chapter 5 will have.
So far, there hasn’t been any chapter designation in any of the promos for the new season, which have referred to it only as Fortnite OG.
What is Fortnite OG?
Epic has been teasing Fortnite OG thus far in out-of-game ways only–meaning the company has been sending stuff to influencers and streamers who played Fortnite back in the day to emphasize the throwback aspect of this new season, such as by sending Ninja this massive Durr Burger.
There haven’t been any official gameplay teasers or anything like that, but there have been a ton of leaks about this one–we’ve known about the 30-day season for months, for one. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
The premise of Fortnite OG, according to these leaks, is that when the new season begins we’ll be playing on the battle royale island mostly as it existed at the start of Chapter 1 Season 5. But it won’t stay as it is for long. Over the course of the month, the island will morph through various other iterations from Chapter 1, going from Season 5 to Season X.
The island won’t be exactly the same as it was then, though. The addition of Zero Build during Chapter 3 requires some changes, because Chapter 1 had many spots you couldn’t get to without building. So they’ll reportedly be adding ziplines and other travel infrastructure where needed.
It had also been reported for a while that certain other modern conveniences that were introduced in Chapter 3, like sliding, sprinting and mantling, would be going away as well. But the Fortnite social media team seems to have directly shot that one down.
You should expect these changes to be holistic, meaning the loot pool should reflect the state of the island–during the Season 6 part there will be Season 6 guns and other devices, and then during the Season 7 part there will be Season 7 guns and other devices, and so on and so forth.
Fortnite OG Battle pass
We have heard zilch about a battle pass for Fortnite OG. No rumors or leaks or official announcements or anything else. While we’d presume that it will have one, likely with remixed Chapters 1 skins, we have no info about it at this time.
Will Fortnite OG include any collaborations?
Though there hasn’t been any chatter whatsoever about Fortnite OG collabs recently, two major brands have been tied to this short season in rumors earlier in the year: Lego and Doctor Who.
Doctor Who makes so much sense for a time travel season that it almost hurts to think of them not doing it. The word, months ago, was that Fortnite would get a Doctor Who mini-pass in November, though it seems possible that that rumor was actually about Fortnite OG. But it’s been a long time since there’s been any buzz about that, and it may not still be happening.
The Lego collaboration, on the other hand, isn’t just a rumor–it’s an officially announced team-up. We haven’t yet seen any products of this partnership, but we know it will involve a method of importing real-world Lego creations into Fortnite. A Lego theme would make a lot of sense in a season in which the landscape is constantly shifting, but the timing for Lego X Fortnite is still unknown.
As we learn more, we’ll update this story to reflect the latest news, rumors, and teases.
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