Fortnite: The End Event Recap

Fortnite is known to feature crazy in-game events near the end of a season, and each event seems to outdo the last one. We’ve seen a rocket launch into the sky and create a rift above the map, we’ve seen an ice storm and a volcano erupt as well as a Mech fight against a giant monster.

But last night we saw something we never expected…we saw ‘the end’. This is by far the craziest event Epic Games have tried to pull and it’s still going on right now.

The End of Fortnite…As We Know It

The event can be found all over YouTube. It included the launch of a new rocket that was a call back to one of the first events that ever happened. This time it created multiple rifts throughout the map and then multiple rockets appeared, flying all over the map.

While viewing the event for myself, I was standing next to my friend and one of the rockets flew right over our heads. It was insane! Then, the rockets started creating a rift right in front of the frozen meteorite that had been stuck in stasis since the beginning of the season.

And, just like that, everything went quiet.

We looked around, asking if that was it, when suddenly a rift appeared in the sky above Loot Lake, probably the most iconic location in Fortnite. We watched, helplessly, as the meteorite along with the rockets fell down above Loot Lake. The rockets flew off and zoomed across the map while the Meteorite landed on Loot Lake, which was dubbed The Zero Point as it has been the centre of a few events in the past.

We were blown off the map by the impact and we watched as the island turned into a big bright light…then we watched as the world around it started being sucked into that big light. Soon, we saw iconic set pieces like the famed Pizza Chief, Tomato Head’s Piece fly towards the light, which was then followed by the sound of the battle bus’s horn ringing in our ears as that too was sucked into the bright light.

Finally, we, the players, were pulled into the light and then the screen faded to black. A few moments later, however, a blue ring of light appeared in the middle of a blackened screen and it’s been stuck like that since last night.

Numbers have flashed on screen and many players have come with different theories as to what they mean. Riddles left behind from the previous season and some claiming it is an IP Address to Epic’s Server Station. Whatever they are, they’re there and driving players insane.

The Nothing

Right now, Fortnite is in Limbo. And it’s not just the game. Fortnite’s Twitter page was purged of all tweets with nothing but a live stream of the circle left. Their Instagram profile has gone dark too, with their profile picture being blacked out and a picture of the circle all over their page.

Logging back into the game will take a player back to the screen of the circle. There’s absolutely no way to play Fortnite right now. There is a neat little trick players can do while watching the circle. By typing in the ‘Konami Code’, players can unlock a space invaders type mini-game that involves a slice of pizza shooting burgers that shoot pineapples (gotta love the humour in this game)

It’s a ballsy move on Epic’s part. Using a server outage as a narrative tool is unheard of, and Fortnite is trending on social media and search engines right now. Even news channels have reported on it, with over six million views on streaming sites.

This is just Epic flexing their muscles, in my opinion. They are showing that they can get everyone talking about Fortnite without people even being able to play it. And, people said Fortnite is dying. This is Fortnite‘s ‘Death of Superman’ moment (except the game is free and people won’t be able to mass buy it in the hopes of it becoming some sort of collector’s item in future.)

So now we wait…

..for something…

…Anything…

…To happen…

This is the end…

This is the beginning…