Fortnite developer Epic Games has taken Battle Royale and Creative offline for the release of Chapter 5, Season 1. After experiencing countless server issues during the Big Bang live event, Epic will officially take Fortnite offline for server maintenance on December 3. That’s on top of temporary downtime ahead of Big Bang encore events. Indeed, to usher in the release of Chapter 5, Season 1, Fortnite will be down from 4.30am GMT UK time on the morning of December 3.
In the meantime, Fortnite is also offline for an undisclosed period of time while Epic attempts to catch up with the overwhelming demand from the Big Bang event.
“We’re still working to recover from the overwhelming attendance from the first event showtime,” Epic explains.
“We’re taking Fortnite offline temporarily while we work to set up encore shows in a few hours. More info on our next showtimes coming soon.”
Fortnite will be taken offline once again from 4.30am GMT, although this is for planned maintenance.
With the maintenance period ushering in the launch of Chapter 5, Season 1, fans should expect downtime to last for longer than usual.
The game is expected to be offline until around 9am GMT UK time. As a reminder, fans will need to download a new update in order to check out the new Chapter.
In the run up to the new season, Fortnite has released the Chapter 5 launch trailer, which showcases some of the new features.
As you can see from the trailer above, Peter Griffin will headline the Chapter 5, Season 1 Battle Pass.
The Family Guy character will be joined by Oscar, Vengeance Jones, Nisha, Montague and Valeria.
Solid Snake from the Metal Gear Solid franchise is expected to join the Battle Pass as the secret skin.
In addition to the new season, Epic Games will release a selection of new live service experiences within Fortnite.
There’s a LEGO crafting experience launching on December 7, followed by the Rocket Racing arcade racer on December 8, and rhythm game Fortnite Festival on December 9.