The Entire Fortnite Timeline Explained

Fortnite doesn't tell its story in the way you might expect. Rather than focusing on a single hero or a group of protagonists, the environment is the star of the show. Epic Games set out to make its island the "main character," and has put its energy into making said island the most interesting part of the game. At the start of Fortnite Chapter 2, this included changing leads — a.k.a. introducing an entirely new island for players to explore.

Because the Fortnite island is the center of attention, the game's battlefield has undergone all sorts of transformations these past few years. Major events usually serve as the catalysts for these changes, which sometimes alter existing areas or introduce all-new locations. Big or small, Fortnite's events have helped shape the game into the live-service juggernaut it is today. Below, you'll get the rundown of the entire Fortnite timeline, describing the events that took place and what they did to the game's world.

For the first few seasons, Fortnite seemed like just another storiless shooter. Epic Games didn't explicitly announce its plans for lore, and the character and map designs didn't overtly give away any sign of an overarching plot. However, that all changed with a glowing blue object in the sky in Season 3.

The meteor triggered the beginning of Fortnite's lore. One popular theory suggested that the meteor would hit Tilted Towers. Big Bang-themed items like dinosaurs and nukes in the Battle Pass hinted at a destructive event, too. Some, however, weren't convinced. They thought the meteor might be an elaborate April Fool's joke.

Eventually, the massive rock fell from the sky and crashed into Dusty Depot. Smaller pieces broke off and also damaged parts of Retail Row, Tilted Towers, and other points of interest. Dusty Divot, the crater left in Dusty Depot's place, became a new hot spot. Just like that, Fortnite players had all-new expectations for what future seasons might bring.

After the meteor crash occurred in Fortnite Season 3, Season 4 arrived and brought with a new point of interest on the map: a rocket. One day, the rocket shot into the sky and plunged toward Tilted Towers, but it disappeared into a rift — an interdimensional portal — before it could make impact. From there, the rocket cruised in and out of rifts like a dolphin through ocean waves before it blasted through one final exit; one last rift that left an enormous crack in the sky. Players learned that The Visitor, a character named after the loading screen of the same name, supposedly escaped from the meteor and took off inside the rocket.

This only sparked the beginning of Fortnite's history with the multiverse and interdimensional travel. The crack in the sky triggered an instability in the Fortniteverse that randomly teleported items to different dimensions. It was in this era, by the way, that Fortnite also dabbled with Marvel heroes for the first time with the Infinity Gauntlet Limited Time Mashup, where players challenged Thanos as they competed in the game.

Players traveled through rifts and dodged lightning strikes as the crack left behind from Season 4 grew more unstable. Then, all of the sudden, one particularly prolonged lightning strike summoned a purple cube. The FortNiteBR subreddit apparently named it Kevin the Cube because the community collectively thought it just seemed like a fun, memetic name.

At first, Kevin stayed put. Then, it slowly tumbled around the map. For the next few weeks, the cube intermittently burned runes into the ground — seven of them — until it rolled into Loot Lake and dissolved into the water. The lake turned purple and rubbery enough for players to bounce on top of it like a trampoline. 

In Season 6, Kevin rose out of Loot Lake with a small island on top of it to create Leaky Lake. Eventually, it split the new island into three gravity-defying chunks. One day, the glowing, fractured cube started rapidly spinning and burst into light. Players caught in the explosion experienced the Butterfly event, where they transported into an alternate space lined with white piping and only returned to the island after touching a shining butterfly. 

However, this wasn't the end of Kevin. The cube left behind a scattering of large purple fragments on the new multi-island Loot Lake and continued to inspire ideas for later seasons.

Toward the end of Season 6, Fortnite players immediately suspected a new phenomenon when a snowy-looking cloud appeared off the island's coast. An iceberg revealed itself from behind the fog and collided with the edge of the map, kicking off Season 7 while opening four new areas for exploration: Frosty Flights, Happy Helmet, Polar Peak, and The Block. A giant ice sphere materialized above Polar Peak but didn't open until days later. Forbes reported that the hovering mass inspired rumors of an "ice storm" based on TV weather warnings and leaked data files. All of it proved to be true when the Ice King emerged from the sphere and unleashed a maelstrom of snow that covered the island.

As players wandered around the winter wonderland, they picked up clues on another possible force of nature in hiding. YouTuber Dr Pineapplez and others noticed that the snow-coated chains in the Ice King's dungeon in Polar Peak became more exposed by the day. Also, the inside of the castle seemed to be the only place melting. Theorists suspected that the Prisoner, also called the Fire King, escaped from the Ice King's castle and activated the end-of-season volcano that warmed up the island.

Pirates set sail for Fortnite Island in Season 8. In addition to adventure-themed goodies, new areas like Lazy Lagoon, Sunny Steps, and the Volcano redefined the map with damage-dealing lava and volcanic vents that carried players in the air. 

However, those features weren't Season 8's most important addition. Players discovered the Vault in the middle of a construction zone where Loot Lake used to be. Floating runes later appeared around the area for those interested enough to activate them. GamesRadar broke down the steps that players took to decode the runes, like damaging one to activate it. Epic didn't actually announce when the Vault would open, but prominent Fortnite dataminer @ShiinaBR correctly determined that it would happen on Saturday, May 4, 2018 at 3 p.m. ET.

The Unvaulting Event hinted at reality-bending forces at play on the island. Players found pillars of crystal-encased weapons inside the Vault along with a mass of energy, which Donald Mustard later called the Zero Point. The weapons only included those that were removed from the game like the Drum Gun, Tactical Submachine Gun, and Infinity Blade. Players voted which one of the weapons to unlock and decided to reintroduce the Drum Gun. Then, immediately after the event, the Volcano erupted and struck multiple parts of the map.

Epic Games revamped the map into a futuristic playground in Season 9. New locations like Neo Tilted resembled urban fantasy cities with shiny silver buildings, bright lights, and pink-rimmed Slipstream turbines. The Slipstream changed travel with a transportation system that carried players through wind tunnels. Mechas also emerged, although only a lucky few could control one each game. PC Gamer reported that players argued about mechas and their place in the meta, but the robots stayed throughout the season.

A Pacific Rim-esque battle between a sea monster called the Devourer and the Mecha Team Leader is what ultimately defined Season 9, however. After taking a serious hit to the arm, the Mecha hobbled over to the Vault and pulled out the Zero Point from inside. Then it grabbed the statue of Singularity from Neo Tilted, which turned out to be a hilt of an oversized sword. The added power helped defeat the Devourer, but then the Mecha left the Zero Point exposed. Fortnite's reality started to deteriorate until the past started to loop back to the present.

Season X enforced a "blast to the past" theme by bringing back old locales like the devastated Dusty Depot and fan favorite Kevin the Cube. Even the meteor from Season 3 returned as a stationary point of interest. However, as a hint to the future, the first mention of the organization called The Seven popped up in the Scientist's description. Fortnite Intel reported that the description of the Visitor – the supposed rocket pilot from Season 4 — was changed to match.

Season X culminated with The End event, where a rocket similar to the one from Season 4 set off a series of rifts with multiple other rockets. In the middle of a convoluted dance of rifts and rockets, the meteor unpaused and collided with the Zero Point. Once wasn't enough, so the rockets and the meteor reappeared one more time from above and broke through the force field around the point. The final hit triggered a black hole that swallowed the player and the entirety of the map until nothing was left but a halo in the middle of a black screen. 

Fortnite went offline for two days, causing a public stir about whether the game had truly ended or not. The number of people searching for what happened to Fortnite soared as onlookers theorized what would come next. 

After two days of silence, Epic Games introduced Fortnite Chapter 2 with a completely new map and added features. Some locations, like Slurpy Swamp, quickly stole attention because of unique features like healing by destroying Slurp-related items or standing in Slurp pools and rivers. Players could fish for weapons and healing items, hide from enemies in hay bundles and dumpsters, and upgrade their weapons using work benches. 

Despite the map's drastic overhaul, some players like The Verge's Jay Peters were disappointed that the new season didn't do much to advance the story. Still, Epic entertained players with seasonal events like Fortnitemares, which added interactive elements to the map, but only temporarily. 

However, the gold items that players started to find on the Eye Land actually pointed to one of the upcoming season's most prominent NPCs. Midas, named after the legendary king that turned everything he touched to gold, took over the island in the center of the map.

Chapter 2 Season 2 introduced henchmen and bosses. The bosses — Midas, Brutus, Meowscles, Skye, and TNTina — each patrolled one location along with lower-level NPC henchmen. Each boss dropped their own unique Mythic Weapon when defeated. Mythic Weapons became a staple in the meta, especially Midas' Drum Gun. Fortnite icon Ninja even commented on the gun's "disgusting" lethality.

According to an official tweet, Midas planned to challenge Fortnite's supernatural storm. During the Device event, an orb-like machine rose out of the Agency along with five pillars out of the water surrounding the building. The device pushed back the storm for a short while but ultimately short-circuited. Onlooking players phased into what seemed like a white-walled office in another world as an ominous wall of water rose around the Agency. In one cutscene, top secret files with pictures of Lynx, Midas, and the upcoming boss Jules sat on an empty-seated desk. In another, a suited Jonesy spoke over the phone with someone who apparently stopped the tsunami from splashing down. 

These cutscenes clued players in on an outside organization potentially controlling some events in the Fortniteverse. Still, with the culprit out of sight, players returned to fighting like normal after they materialized back into Fortnite's reality. 

The wall of water from the Device event collapsed as a prelude to Chapter 2 Season 3, leaving the Agency in shambles and Midas stranded. At the time of this writing, Epic Games hasn't confirmed Midas' status, though some fans believe he was eaten by a shark. Jules, also known as the Engineer, led the new bosses in Season 3. She resided in the Authority, the building that replaced the Agency. Fans speculated that she and Midas knew each other because of the portrait of her in his office.

More than half the island flooded at the start of the season, so players took advantage of boats, sharks, and whirlpools to traverse the transformed terrain. Players discovered once-submerged secrets as water levels receded over the following weeks. FortTory, a Fortnite News Twitter, even found a spaceship. Gfinity reported on map changes like uncovered wreckage at Camp Cod, the Shark, and other points of interest.

At this point in the Fortnite timeline, Epic Games had included multiple Marvel outfits throughout the seasons. Aquaman even appeared in this sea-themed season. However, the next Marvel collaboration took over the Fortniteverse entirely.

Marvel partnered with Epic Games in the past, but Chapter 2 Season 4 was the first time an entire season featured on Marvel franchises. Thor rallied a team of heroes to stop Galactus from harnessing the power of the Zero Point, including Iron Man, She-Hulk, Wolverine, Groot, Mystique, Storm, and Doctor Doom. Epic added locations related to these heroes throughout the map, and also tossed in some superpowered weapons.

Galactus finally arrived to devour the Zero Point on the final day of the season. During the Devourer of Worlds event, Iron Man enlisted the player's help to lead a fleet of Battle Buses turned into bombs and stop the Galactus from absorbing the Zero Point. The Battle Bus bombs flew into Galactus' mouth, triggering an explosion that sent him back through the rift. 

In a This Week in Marvel interview, Epic revealed that it had planned to integrate Marvel into Fortnite's story from as early as Season X. "That's the moment that attracted Galactus," explained Epic CCO Donald Mustard. "Galactus felt this re-organizing of reality and was like 'huh, there's this energy source at the center of everything, and if I can consume that, I can consume not just the Marvel reality but I can consume everything.'"

Agent Jones, the Jonesy who appeared during the Device event, was ordered to stabilize the Zero Point after Galactus exposed it. To do this, he dove into the Zero Point itself and set out to enlist the help of the best hunters throughout the galaxy. At the time of the Chapter 2 Season 4 Battle Pass trailer, he found seven promising recruits including the Mandalorian. 

Players interacted with these hunters plus other NPCs at their own stations on the island. These characters offered players quests called bounties to complete for rewards. PCGamesN confirmed that these characters even fight alongside the player if an enemy starts shooting at them. As the season progressed, Agent Jones added franchise favorites like Kratos from God of War and Master Chief from Halo to his team. However, not all of them became bounty-wielding NPCs.

Later on, portals popped up across the map based on which realities Agent Jones visited. Players could glimpse through these portals for a clue as to which hunters would come next. Redditors mapped the coordinates and found that the portals seem to draw a cube across the map, which suspiciously lined up with the runes Kevin the Cube printed in Chapter 1 Season 5.

Epic hasn't confirmed what turn the story will take, but the community continues to speculate based off of Fortnite's history, rumors, and leaks. 

SypherPK, a veteran Fortnite content creator, pointed out how the trailers leading into Season 6 may reveal Agent Jones' progression from a suit-and-tie man to the Jonesy character model that Fortnite fans have known from the start. Jones' messy hair and the tie around his arm in the Terminator trailer strongly resemble Jonesy's standard rugged adventurer look. 

Meanwhile, YouTuber Ali-A suggested that Kevin the Cube may return based on the pattern that Fortnite Chapter 2 seasons seem to mimic their Chapter 1 counterparts. For example, Chapter 1 Season 4 revolved around superheroes and Chapter 2 Season 4 focused on a Marvel storyline. If the same theory applies to Chapter 2 Season 6, then the theme would match "Darkness Rises" — the season where Kevin created a floating island out of Loot Lake. SypherPK also pointed out traces of purple energy in the same room as the Zero Point in the Chapter 2 Season 5 trailer. 

Chapter 2 Season 6 kicks off on March 16, 2021 after the end of the current Battle Pass.