Fortnite OG, Chapter 1 Map, And Everything We Know About The Next Update (2024)

By Phil Owen on November 2, 2023 at 1:20PM PDT

Comments

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 basem*nt during all these heists isn't just for show, it turns out. [Update: Downtime is over, and everything new in Fortnite OG has now been revealed. We've also got a rundown on map changes, new weapons, and everything in the OG battle pass.]

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 kicked off the Fortnite OG hype train with in out-of-game ways--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.

The premise of Fortnite OG 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.

And without further ado, here's the gameplay trailer for Fortnite OG:

But the island 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.

Thus far, there are two such devices that we know for sure will be present on the OG island: Ballers, those glass Jurassic World balls that are great for zipping around the map, will be returning at some point during the season, as will airplanes, hoverboards, and the classic pump shotgun.

Fortnite OG Battle pass

On Halloween Tuesday, Epic began teasing Fortnite OG by dropping a series of pieces of the season's key art, which has offered us some tantalizing glimpses at what look like mashups and/or remixes of past skins that we can expect from the Fortnite OG battle pass--skins featured on the key art are almost always from the battle pass.

But we didn't have to puzzle over all that for long, because StreamFNBR on Twitter decided to leak a bunch of images of the pass on Thursday night, including the intact key art.

He also gave us looks at the battle pass page itself, and there are four skins included. There's Lil Split, a mashup of Peely and Lil Whip. There's Omegarok, which combines Ragnarok and Omega. We've got Renegade Lynx, which crosses Lynx with Renegade Raider, and we've got a new knight character, called Spectra Knight, who will apparently include pretty serious color customization.

There's one more skin in the key art image beyond these battle pass skins: What appears to be a new purple version of Mecha Cuddle Master.

A normal battle pass would have seven skins, plus the bonus skin, but the leaks indicate that this pass is half the length of a normal one, with 7 pages instead of 14. But a secret skin is possible, and during throwback season they might actually keep it a secret.

Will Fortnite OG include any collaborations?

Though there hasn't been any chatter whatsoever about Fortnite OG collabs recently, and there are no collabs mentioned in the battle pass leaks, 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.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com