It’s happening, Fortnite turns the clock back to Chapter One, suggesting that the game’s original map will return once again.
Epic Games has officially announced that the battle royale will take players “back to Chapter One” in the next major update, after months of hinting at plans to somehow bring back the original island through time travel.
The update is scheduled for November 3 and not many details have been revealed about the update yet, but fans are already excited about it. Epic also confirmed that while the game is returning to its roots, the sprint and cloak features will thankfully still be present.
Sprint (or Mantle, your choice) back to Chapter 1….see you soon 11.3.2023. #FortniteOG pic.twitter.com/4LnTksppRpOctober 27, 2023
It hasn’t been explicitly confirmed that the original map will return, but earlier in Chapter Four, Season Four, a time machine was added to the game alongside a loading screen showing a specific date – effectively sparking the first rumors.
This date appearing on the time machine is June 12, 2018, the day Chapter One Season Five was released, implying that players could be transported back to the original map during the final event of the current season.
Additionally, with patch 26.30, the time machine also appears to have brought items from Chapter One, Season Five to the current map, which can be found in Frenzy Fields, as well as a billboard in Mega City that teases the chapter from five years ago.
Yesterday (October 26), Epic boss Mark Rein shared one after hinting at what’s to come by saying, “My word for the next season of Fortnite is: rewind.”
It looks like the hints match what rumors suggest, but in true Epic Games style we’ll probably have to wait a little longer to find out for sure.
In the meantime, check out our list of the best FPS gamesalong with our picks for the best free games can you play in 2023?