Fortnite as a game has evolved over the last few years, that too, drastically. The stories have swayed from movie collaborations to artist collaborations – to a point where they are now broken up into chapters where each season’s dates are closer to each other than you might initially think.
A lot of the major patches recently have completely reworked the mechanics and the look & feel of the game. Fortnite is known for adding elements only to remove them in the next patch to a point where each season feels like a brand-new game!
The current iteration of Fortnite has gotten the Creative, Battle Royale, Lego, Rocket Racing & Festival modes. Where do you think all of these modes came from? Well, all thanks to the continuous storyline, added content, and constant updates – all part of the Fortnite Timeline.
The Fortnite Timeline
Take a look at how the Fortnite Timeline looks, where it all started with season 1 right until the mega game is in the middle of the fifth chapter. The game expanded to various platforms, and moved on from the early build to consecutive great seasons one after the other.
| Season | Start Date | End Date | Length | Season No. |
| One | Oct 25 2017 | Dec 13 2017 | 50 days | 1 |
| Two | Dec 14 2017 | Feb 21 2018 | 70 days | 2 |
| Three | Feb 22 2018 | April 20 2018 | 58 days | 3 |
| Four | May 1 2018 | July 12 2018 | 73 days | 4 |
| Five | July 12 2018 | Sept 27 2018 | 78 days | 5 |
| Six | Sept 27 2018 | Dec 6 2018 | 71 days | 6 |
| Seven | Dec 6 2018 | Feb 28 2019 | 84 days | 7 |
| Eight | Feb 28 2019 | May 9 2019 | 70 days | 8 |
| Nine | May 9 2019 | Aug 1 2019 | 84 days | 9 |
| Season X | Aug 1 2019 | Oct 13 2019 | 73 days | 10 |
| Chapter 2 Season One | Oct 15 2019 | Feb 20 2020 | 128 days | 11 |
| Chapter 2 Season Two | Feb 20 2020 | June 17 2020 | 119 days | 12 |
| Chapter 2 Season Three | June 17 2020 | Aug 27 2020 | 71 days | 13 |
| Chapter 2 Season Four | Aug 27 2020 | Dec 1 2020 | 95 days | 14 |
| Chapter 2 Season Five | Dec 2 2020 | Mar 15 2021 | 103 days | 15 |
| Chapter 2 Season Six | Mar 16 2021 | June 8 2021 | 85 days | 16 |
| Chapter 2 Season Seven | June 8 2021 | Sept 12 2021 | 97 days | 17 |
| Chapter 2 Season Eight | Sept 13 2021 | Dec 4 2021 | 83 days | 18 |
| Chapter 3 Season 1 | Dec 5 2021 | Mar 19 2021 | 105 days | 19 |
| Chapter 3 Season 2 | Mar 20 2022 | June 3 2022 | 76 days | 20 |
| Chapter 3 Season 3 | June 4 2022 | Sept 17 2022 | 105 days | 21 |
| Chapter 3 Season 4 | Sept 18 2022 | Dec 3 2022 | 76 days | 22 |
| Chapter 4 Season 1 | Dec 3 2022 | March 10 2023 | 97 days | 23 |
| Chapter 4 Season 2 | March 10 2023 | June 8 2023 | 90 days | 24 |
| Chapter 4 Season 3 | June 8 2023 | August 25 2023 | 76 days | 25 |
| Chapter 4 Season 4 | August 25 2023 | November 3rd | 71 Days | 26 |
| Fortnite OG (Chapter 5 Season 5 | November 3 2023 | December 2 2023 | 29 Days | 27 |
| Chapter 5 Season 1 | December 3 2023 | March 8 2024 | 97 Days | 28 |
| Chapter 5 Season 2 | March 9 2024 | May 24 2024 | 75 Days | 29 |
| Chapter 5 Season 3 | May 24 2024 | August 16 2024 | 84 days | 30 |
| Chapter 5 Season 4 | August 16 2024 | November 2 2024 | 78 Days | 31 |
How Fortnite has evolved through its seasons and chapters is a clear demonstration of its evolution. This is despite the fact that each season still feels different, even though we are now in the 5th chapter of the game. Nevertheless, when you look at the whole timeline, it becomes apparent that these seasons differ in length – enormously. Even ignoring the initial mini-season, there has been a lot of divergence ever since.
Similarly, naming conventions have not been uniform throughout. It was strange to move from numbers to numerals within Season 10 while the annual Chapter releases are a new idea altogether. However, since this pattern helps us denote where the game can go in the future, the unpredictability of schedules due to Unreal Engine updates on Chapter transitions suggests another story altogether. Another painstaking factor is how the meta keeps changing as often as the seasons, where every patch has a new strong weapon or place to loot.
The world this time opens up even wider with Chapter 5 of Fortnite. There is a new map in the Battle Royale and a weapon mod system, and the movement mechanics have changed completely. This version of the game feels quite dissimilar from its old one. In addition to being armed with all-new features, all players have fresh animations for different movements in the game. However, not all the most significant developments are happening in Battle Royale.
This Chapter of Fortnite introduced three new game modes. One is the Minecraft-like Lego mode, followed by what is called Fortnite Festival which is a rhythm-based game. The third one is the Rocket Racing mode. A few members of the community have even come up with their own countdowns for Fortnite seasons! On top of that Fall Guys has recently become one among them too; however not as full-blown games but as some fun Creative maps that can be explored eventually.
But clearly Fortnite is no longer just a Battle Royale game anymore because it’s growth seems endless.
But, how has the game changed over the seasons?
Fortnite seasons and chapters are nothing more than ways to iteratively divide the game, but what do they imply in terms of gameplay? For many people though, Fortnite seasons can be a big shift and a new direction for the game. In some cases, Seasons have a lot of consistency in their themes while new updates mostly steer the game into an entirely different path only to get dropped immediately in the next month. (We see you Epic Games)
A good example is the recent Chapter 2 Season 6 where Epic rammed “crafting” mechanics into the title, only to ditch it entirely for the new alien-themed season next time around. Even more, is the Chapter 5 Season 3 becoming “Car Royale”, right after with the next season being a Superhero takeover. After this even wider changes seem to be planned, going back to OG Chapter 2 before a new map comes.
However, at times these changes stick throughout the season’s length. Some shifts in seasons change things up and don’t necessarily go away from that point onwards. Recently though, there have been additions like parkouring and sprinting which never existed before as well as Zero Build modes that debuted in Chapter 3 Season 2. It has built on what came before it significantly so far. Augments were introduced in chapter four as perks answer to Fortnite only for them to be sadly gone again in chapter five.
The momentum that has been built up over the course of Fortnite’s history came to an abrupt end when everything got reverted back to Chapter 1. As popular as that nostalgic trip was, it wasn’t long before it threw players into an entirely new world that is Chapter 5. This chapter introduced plenty of new content, and leaks, teasers & much more, including potentially going back to Chapter 2.
One of the significant changes that has affected Fortnite was evolving into a platform. The game now holds a number of modes within it outside the real Battle Royale experience. The shift is crystallized in Fortnite’s new tagline: “Find it in Fortnite.”
Some recent map changes
Fortnite’s ever-changing map has had a significant impact on how the game has grown over the years. Epic Games keeps the island fresh by launching new seasons and chapters. Each chapter wipes the slate clean, while seasonal tweaks maintain player interest. This strategy has given players many different ways to enjoy the game.
As the map grows so do the ways players can move around. Some items, like shopping carts, didn’t stick around long but helped shape future designs. Now, Ballers, Choppas, and cars are key parts of the game showing how the items players can find and use keep changing and growing.
You can see how far Fortnite has come since it started by looking at Chapter 5. The map in this chapter has changed a lot starting with ancient Greece then becoming a barren wasteland, and now a place where more people live. This hints at a new plan: to build on the map throughout a chapter instead of starting from scratch each time.
Finally, how long is a Fortnite season?
The length of the Fortnite seasons has never been consistent across chapters. Despite lasting for 72 days on average, chapter 1’s season was much shorter than Chapter 2 which had its average expanded to a somewhat similar value of 97 as a result of the first two seasons’ extension. Slight decrements in average season lengths were observed in Chapters 3 and 4 at approximately 90.5 and around 83.5 days respectively.
On the other hand, the fifth chapter has been more uniform or constant with an average of about eighty-three point five per session till now; this was from an increased number of games played in the first part compared to the latter sessions.
When it comes to duration, Fortnite OG was the shortest ever season lasting for only twenty-nine days while chapter two lasted one hundred twenty-eight days becoming the longest period ever recorded so far. Regardless, like chapters three and five also had long initial seasons, it appears unlikely that any forthcoming one will top chapter two season one’s record, particularly with its impending comeback as part of Fortnite OG.
For more such guides on Fortnite, stay tuned to Talkesport.
