Fortnite is about to get one of its first updates of Chapter 3 Season 4. However, the process hasn’t gone that smoothly. The game is down. Fortnite downtime is typical with every update, but this time Epic has pushed the boat out. They’ve taken the game offline for 12 hours. This isn’t normal.

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We don’t know precisely why the game’s offline, but Epic has clarified a bit more than their first statement.

Fortnite Downtime – Why is Fortnite Down?

Before an update, Fortnite usually goes offline early in the morning. This takes the game offline for an hour or two. That’s most updates. This one has been different.

This Fortnite downtime is to let the game get updated, and it happens at a time when player numbers are typically low, a weekday in the morning. This update period is significantly longer. It’s going to take around 12 hours for the game to actually come back online this time around. Epic hasn’t really said why. Although, they’ve given a bit of information.

Epic has been referring to the downtime in the same way that they usually do for updates. That it’s a few hours, while the game gets updated. While they’ve posted on some platforms that there’s an “issue”, they haven’t cleared much up. This isn’t the longest that Fortnite has gone down in the past though. 

Fortnite Downtime in the Past

In the past, Epic has taken Fortnite offline for days at a time. This was a frustrating process. First, it was during the infamous Black Hole, when Fortnite was fully offline while the game moved out of Chapter 1 and into Chapter 3. It’s had more extended downtime in the past by a few hours, too, when a big update had problems. Rarely has it extended to 12 hours.

The black hole and the Chapter 2 to 3 transition usually served more than one purpose. While it was to give time to update the game, it also built hype. The black hole event saw a huge discussion of Fortnite on social media.

A routine update doesn’t usually require this much downtime. Those past lengthier downtimes mentioned above were for entire Chapter changes, more significant than even a new Season in the game.

Fortnite started a new season only weeks ago. A new chapter or huge update can probably be ruled out as the reason behind this round of Fortnite downtime.

“Due to an Issue”

The only specific explanation from Epic has been that downtime is starting early “due to an issue”. This likely means that there was an error of some kind and the new update requires much more time than it normally would. Sometimes Epic releases some fairly broken stuff. However, they rarely have an unfunctional game for any extended period. This downtime is likely just to fix whatever issue happened rather than something more interesting.

Fans have had some fun speculating on other reasons for the Fortnite downtime, though, along with working through the pain.

The Reaction to Fortnite Downtime

At the moment, Overwatch is offline before the launch of Overwatch 2. This has led to some social media discussion of the game, as fans react to the title finally going offline. Then, Epic takes Fortnite away for 12 hours too! Right before another free-to-play title releases after downtime. Fans have suggested the game most known for kicking everyone out for extended periods doesn’t like other shooters muscling in on their territory!  There’s also been this reaction to two giant games going away:

There are options if you’re entirely missing your two main titles right now. It might be time to try out that final Warzone update or what’s going on with Apex Legends right about now.

The other main joke about the Fortnite downtime is that someone fat-fingered the date. A little mistake with AM to PM.

The best explanation is probably that something new in the game caused a problem. Downtime had to start early to get everything running correctly. When new items come or even new skins, in some cases, there are often unprecedented problems. Players will likely just have a little longer to wait to ensure it’s all working as intended. It’s also possible Epic gives something away to apologize, so be sure to log in when the game does return!