Fortnite’s Season 7 is nearly over, and Epic Games are dropping more hints than ever about what’s coming next. These hints give us an idea of what Season 8 will involve for players on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and every other platform. Here’s everything you need to know!
Thursday, December 6, was a big day for the world of Fortnite Battle Royale as the highly anticipated v7.00 patch was finally released. Season 7 began with a bang, literally, as an Iceberg collided with the map and created a massive icy biome that covers around one-quarter of the map.
Now well into 2019, we’ve experienced everything from an entire snow map on Christmas day to a giant sword named the ‘Infinity Blade’ that was quite possibly the most overpowered thing we’ve ever seen. As we’re now well past the halfway point in the season, players are beginning to wonder about what comes next.
Below, you can find everything we know (and everything we think we might know) so far:
When does Fortnite Season 7 end?
Players will have longer than normal to unlock all of the Battle Pass rewards in Season 7. Epic Games released a blog post shortly after the season began where they announced that Season 7 will be extended by two weeks to allow for their winter break.
“The Epic Games team will be taking its own holiday break this winter, so Season 7 will be extended by two weeks and end on February 28,” they explained. “We’ll still have new updates coming out during that break period bringing new items and challenges. You can plan on more holiday cheer to hit before the New Year as well!”
According to the blog post, Season 7 will end on Thursday, February 28.
So, players will actually get a full 12 weeks to unlock all of the Season 7 Battle Pass skins and cosmetics.
The normal 10 weeks of challenges are now over, but Epic Games is keeping it interesting to the last possible day with new Overtime Challenges, as part of the Valentine’s Day event, which will close out the final two weeks of Season 7.
When does Fortnite Season 8 begin?
Season 8 will go live on February 28, Epic Games has finally announced. In a Twitter post on February 24, Epic revealed that only four days remained until the start of the new season.
The release of the new season could potentially be an issue for competitive players, however, as the ESL Katowice Royale is starting on March 1. A major update in the same time period is likely to change the meta of the game – which will change how players find victories.
Of course, any late delay in preparing the v8.00 patch could derail Epic’s plans and mean that the release is delayed.
What will the Season 8 theme be and what changes can we expect?
The Season 6 theories and predictions that the map will be covered in snow for a winter/Christmas theme in Season 7 proved to be true. However, the rumors so far for Season 8 are nowhere near as detailed.
The most popular theory has been that Season 7 will end with some sort of earthquake event. A number of leaks, including some audio files, made this rumor seem possible, and sure enough, a number of small earthquakes started to rock the map on February 14, and each one appears to be leaving a giant crack in the ground. Many Fortnite fans believe these earthquakes will cause a volcano to erupt on the island, and the third Season 8 teaser appears to add fuell to that fire, as many believe the bottom of the image looks a lot like a volcano.
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However, in a slight twist, Epic has also teased what seems to be a Pirate-like theme for Season 8. The ‘X’ marks the spot, the hints at hidden treasure and something to do with Bananas only gives us little to work with as it is still pretty vague. The first three Season 8 teaser images hint towards the pirate theme, and they even appear to combine to make a larger picture of a skull!
While it’s still uncertain as to what we can expect when Season 8 launches, there are some early clues, rumors and announcements that Fortnite fans can sink their teeth into. Wailing Woods has begun to rot and decay prompting many to believe it will disappear at the start of the new season, while Epic Games have already confirmed that the X-4 Stormwing plane will be removed, although the recently added Driftboard will remain for the time being. Popular Fortnite stream Nick Eh 30 also believes that a number of vaulted weapons will return in Season 8, but the developers have yet to confirm this.
How much will the Season 8 Battle Pass cost?
Expect to see Season 8 Battle Pass cost around the same amount as it has in previous seasons, so somewhere in the region of 950 V-Bucks (~ $10).
For the first time ever, though, you can actually unlock the Battle Pass for FREE by completing the special Overtime Challenges!
The Battle Pass gives you the chance to unlock a range of exclusive skins, emotes and other cosmetic items as you level up through all the tiers.
You’ll also get the opportunity to complete Battle Pass challenges and, probably, unlock a mystery skin through a series of bonus challenges like this season’s ‘Snowfall’ challenge.
How long will Season 8 last?
We’re expecting Season 8 to be a return to normal practice, meaning it will last 10 weeks with 10 sets of weekly challenges and 100 Battle Pass tiers to work through.
Epic Games have yet to officially announce when the season will end, but a PlayStation Event page for the launch of Season 8 may have leaked that it will run from Thursday, February 28 until Tuesday, May 7, which would match up with the regular 10 week seasons that Epic Games have used in the past.
While that may be the expected end date, Epic Games have been known to extend seasons in the past, with Season 7 having two additional weeks due to the holiday season.
We’ll keep this post updated with any and all Season 8 news in the run up to February 28 so that you know exactly what to expect when it rolls around.
In the meantime, you can follow @Dexerto on Twitter to keep up with everyone Fortnite related throughout the rest of Season 7.
