'Fortnite' Season 9 Start Date, Themes, Map Changes, and Everything to Know
Looking ahead to the future of 'Fortnite'.
Fortnite: Battle Royale has gameplay seasons that mirror the actual seasons of the year, so while Season 8 led us out of winter and into spring, the upcoming Season 9 will span late-spring into early summer, reshaping the map in some festive way with a brand-new theme.
Earthquakes late in Season 7 culminated with a volcano erupting into existence at the start of Season 8 to reshape parts of the island.
Seismic activity continued later in Season 8 until, as part of an event called the “Unvaulting,” the volcano erupted and destroyed a few named locations, namely Tilted Towers and Retail Row. Is the destruction only just beginning, setting things up for another massive map overhaul in Season 9? Possibly!
What else do we know in terms of start date, potential themes, and every other piece of pertinent information for Season 9?
We’ll update this post with every new detail we get, including theories about storylines, new updates to the game, and any relevant info about the new season.
'Fortnite' Season 8 brought buried treasure, pirates, ninjas, and a banana?
When Does Fortnite Season 8 End?
According to the official in-game countdown, Fortnite Season 8 will end on Wednesday, May 8. That makes the season only 69 days long, which feels very short — but also nice.
Fortnite Season 7 was the game’s longest to date at about 84 days, and Season 6 was on the shorter side around 70. Season 5 lasted 78 days and Season 4 lasted 73 days.
Despite always having 10 weeks of challenges, the actual length of a Fortnite season varies by about a two-week range, so Season 8 ending on May 8 still fits within that range.
When Does Fortnite Season 9 Begin?
The transition between Seasons 7 and 8 was almost seamless, and the same will happen for Seasons 8 and 9. Epic Games released the first official Season 9 teaser on Monday, May 6. It confirmed that Season 9 would begin on Thursday, May 9.
Fortnite servers usually go down at 4 a.m. for each new season update, so Season 9 should go live shortly thereafter.
What Is the Fortnite Season 9 Theme?
Themes in Fortnite are inscrutable at best, and usually take the form of a teaser line. “Darkness rises” in Season 6 led to Fortnitemares. “You better watch out” in Season 7 led to a weird Christmas invasion and the Ice King’s arrival. For Season 8, “‘X’ marks the spot” translated to an all-out war for treasure between pirates, fire-dragon ninjas, and the ice king’s hordes. It’s always a confusing mess and only tangentially related to the current calendar season; fall focused on Halloween and winter on Christmas.
So far, two Season 9 image teasers are captioned “The Future is…” leading us to believe that the “Future” will be the focus of Season 9. Could more time travel and/or Rifts be involved? Or will we finally learn more about this subdimensional space first seen in the Butterfly event?
Retail Row was one of the key named locations that was destroyed by the volcanic eruption.
How Will the Map Change for Fortnite Season 9?
Each season, drastic cosmic or geological events, natural or otherwise, drastically change the geography of the island on which Fortnite: Battle Royale is played. Once, a rocket enhanced by an alien ripped holes in space-time, causing rifts to appear. The aforementioned volcano totally altered the topography of the northeastern area of the island at the start of Season 8. Before that, a giant iceberg crashed into the southwest corner of the island to kick off Season 7, bringing with it a lot of snow.
The Unvaulting introduced us to some kind of high-tech device that’s always been below Loot Lake, and using it seemingly caused the volcano to erupt. Will that happen again before the start of Season 9?
Everyone who wants a 'Fortnite' Premium Battle Pass needs some V-Bucks.
How Much will the Fortnite Season 9 Premium Battle Pass Cost?
Fortnite: Battle Royale might be free to play, but for players that want access to the premium Battle Pass and all its associated challenges, purchasing the pass costs 950 V-Bucks. That converts to about $9.50, but most players will have to buy a V-Bucks bundle that costs $9.99 for 1,000 or one of the bigger bundles that offer better deals.
This price is likely to remain the same.
Fortnite: Battle Royale Season Season 9 begins Thursday, May 9, 2019.
