Fortnite players were treated to a singularly mysterious ending to Season 10 over the weekend. Players of the multiplayer online shooter game logged on Sunday to participate in The End event. At around 2 p.m. Eastern Time, a rocket exploded. The explosion collapsed into a black hole that pulled in the entire Battle Royale map and all the players.
And just like that we were all sucked in…black hole-gazing….for millions #Fortnite #FortniteBlackout pic.twitter.com/3w57L2SqsA
— SithPadawan (@Nazandro1) October 14, 2019
Epic Games had been hyping up The End event for weeks, and the spectacle has so far lived up to the hype. Players had been expecting a new map after Season 10, and seeing the old one collapse into a black hole seems to confirm the rumors. But many hours of waiting later, the new map has yet to emerge.
When Will Fortnite Blackout End?
how we all feelin after @FortniteGame did that space butthole shit #Fortnite #FortniteChapter2 #FortniteSeason11 #FortniteBlackout pic.twitter.com/BXPKCGAlTL
— The Geico Lizzard Nigga (@geicolizzard) October 14, 2019
When you’ve been staring at the black hole for way too long 💀 #FortniteBlackout #Fortnite2 pic.twitter.com/sj6IZe79Hk
— Htrck (@Htrckk) October 14, 2019
Monday morning Fortnite still hasn’t updated with a new map. Players can’t start a match. They can’t build in creative mode. They can’t do anything at all. The entire Fortnite community is on Twitch together just staring at a black hole that’s been swirling on the screen for going on 24 hours now.
Fortnite even blacked out its Twitter account. It deleted some 12,000 tweets and left only a post of the lives tream of the black hole. Here’s the live stream of the black hole on Twitch’s YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huDgBRqbMuc
This is a classic software business tactic, turning a bug into a feature. The creators of Fortnite needed some downtime to make the transition to a new map, and with a little animation and mystery, they have turned the interruption into a momentous and fun event.
But how long will the Fortnite blackout continue?
Some code data-mined from Fortnite’s website suggests the blackout will continue until Tuesday at 6 a.m. Then it was updated to suggest Thursday at 4 a.m. It could possibly be a red herring that Fortnite knew would fuel the speculation. The bookies for one online betting market are putting the odds on Thursday.
Twitter Blames Elon Musk
Twitter has been quick to point out that The Simpson’s predicted this:
The Simpsons already knew this was going to happen 👀 #fortnite #Fortnite2 #FortniteChapter2 #FortniteBlackout pic.twitter.com/IYzuOrZatj
— SilentMemer (@SilentMemerYT) October 14, 2019
And many have posted to congratulate Elon Musk on finally buying Fortnite and deleting it “to save these kids from eternal virginity.” Musk himself tweeted out the hoax news headline in October 2018 with a note, “Had to been done ur welcome.” That was following a spat between SpaceX and Fortnite fans on Twitter.
It’s been a charming back and forth between the SpaceX CEO and the creators of Fortnite. Interesting that it was a rocket that ended up deleting the Season 10 Fortnite map. Could this really be the end?