Fortnite black hole explained: When is season 11 released? How long will Epic Games' flagship remain down for?

No one is able to play Fortnite Battle Royale at the moment
Fortnite/Twitter
Tom Herbert14 October 2019

Gamers have been unable to play Fortnite after the entire map disappeared into a black hole on Sunday.

Those who logged on last night saw the game's island hit by a meteor shower before the map was sucked away.

Since then, anyone who has tried to log on has been met with just a live stream of the black hole but with no way of playing.

It all adds to fears that the game has gone for good, with developer Epic Games previously confirming that an event known as "The End" would take place in October.

But ending the game would represent a remarkable move for Epic, as Fornite is one of the most popular games in the world.

Instead, it all seems to be part of an elaborate move to mark the end of the games's 10th season and introduce season 11.

The Fortnite China website appears to have leaked Season 11's release date, hinting that the new season is set to start on October 15.

However there are other whispers of 'The End' lasting until Thursday morning - which would be bad news for any impatient fans (all of us)

So expect the new season to go live anywhere between tomorrow and Thursday.

Here's what we know so far.

What happened?

Gamers were last night shocked when asteroids appeared and smashed into the map, with the ensuing fallout revealing a huge black hole in its place.

It was a move that Epic had been hinting could happen, in an event called "The End" which came with a big countdown clock ticking away until it reached "zero".

Players had long suspected something would happen when the clock reached zero, and they were right - a meteor appeared and smashed into the game, as the map was sucked into a black hole which replaced the game's universe.

Now, whenever anyone tries to log on they are merely presented with a live stream of the black hole. Gamers can't even get back into Season 10 of Battle Royale either.

As part of a complete blackout, the official Fortnite Twitter account has also deleted all of its tweets apart from a live stream of the black hole. It has been retweeted more than 120,000 times.

Is Fortnite shutting down?

Most likely it won 't shut down, as the game is simply far too popular to throw away.

It all seems instead to be a showpiece designed to coincide with the end of the game's 10th season. Many are now expecting a large-scale refresh of the game and its island setting before it returns for the 11th season, likely to begin in the coming days.

Previous large Fortnite events have included a meteor shower, a rocket launch, and a fight between a giant robot and a monster taking place across the map earlier this year.

When is Fortnite Season 11 released?

Epic are keeping their cards close the their chest on this one, with no official confirmation of Season 11 release date.

Gamers are hoping that Season 11 will drop this week, although this is all conjecture.

We'll continue to update this page as and when we get new developments.

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