Since the meteor at the end of season three, Epic Games are becoming skilled in the art of environmental storytelling. From the start of Fortnite Battle Royale, when the concept was simply an island where players battled it out, to now, this universe with visitors from outer space, television broadcasts and a rocket lift-off that players only had one opportunity to see for themselves. They’re creating a world that players can become more engaged with, it’s creating buzz on social media and most importantly, it’s crafting a universe that will add longevity to the game.

The rocket launch was truly a sight to behold. Image courtesy of KnowTechie.

The latest happenings in the Fortnite world have come after the rocket took off. It blasted into the sky from the villain base before coming back down with an enormous red laser pointed directly at Tilted Towers. Right before the collision however, it appeared to be blocked by some sort of forcefield around the city. From there, the rocket re-appeared above Moisty Mire with all its momentum and shot around the island at high speeds. It exited through another portal next to Greasy Grove, then re-entered the world near the sports complex in between Tilted Towers and Snobby Shores. From there, it attempted to escape the island but collided with an enormous portal in the sky, creating a tear that has hovered above the island ever since.

Over the last few days, the tear has been growing ever so slowly. Just like the meteor got closer and closer, the world around the 100-player deathmatch is evolving. Smaller rifts have started to appear throughout the map too; the motel west of Anarchy Acres was the first place to be hit, with the sign being sucked into a black hole. Tomato Town was next, as the enormous tomato head atop the pizza restaurant vanished, followed by the “Welcome to the Lodge” sign greeting players at Lonely Lodge. NOMS, the convenience store sign in Retail Row disappeared next and as we write this, the next time portal has appeared on the Durrr Burger sign in Greasy Grove.

If you look closely you can see the blue fog surrounding the Durrr Burger sign. It won't be here for much longer!

Our theory comes from some datamined files in the latest update consisting of a ‘Wild West Stagecoach’, a ‘Viking Anchor’, and a ‘Desert Skeleton’. These are all objects clearly from a time period long ago and they were found in the same area of the files as the assets that have disappeared to the time portals such as the Tomato Town head, Durrr Burger sign, and the rest. Perhaps the portals could re-open and these objects will come back through, turning specific locations into different themes? Imagine Greasy Grove but turned into a wild west town, Durrr Burger becomes a saloon, the shop becomes an inn, the cars are replaced with old stagecoaches. Anarchy Acres could become a dinosaur graveyard with hollowed out loot, while Loot Lake could turn the house in the centre into a Viking longship, anchored into the ground.

It makes sense when you look at the cosmetics they’ve released too. Dinosaurs have seen an influx with the Rex and Tricera Ops skins, the detective skins (Noir/Sleuth/Gumshoe) are straight out of the prohibition era combined with the new Drum (Tommy) Gun, while Sky Stalker is very reminiscent of a soldier from either of the World Wars. We’ve seen a number of futuristic/alien skins too, such as the recent Vertex skin, Leviathan, Raven and more, which could indicate the time portals also go into the future.

#fortnite Oddities have begun to appear at new places. So far the linked objects are good indicators of where the next shall be. pic.twitter.com/F5d38OSMim — Fortnite Leakage (@FNLeak) July 1, 2018

Many people are assuming the theme for next season will be dedicated to one time period like the wild west or pirates, but it’s much more likely that individual areas will be reskinned, akin to a film set. Season four was all about making the island look like a movie, with film cameras dotted across the map, Risky Reels being added, the various blockbuster loading screens that showed it was all a film, the superhero outfits, the list goes on. Season five could easily continue with this but with a different film plot that features a variety of time periods and locations, Back to the Future or Doctor Who style.

Of course, this could all be incorrect. Maybe the huge time portal is going to open up and swallow the entire island, taking it to a brand new time period each week? Maybe we’re going to be (finally) given a whole new map in general? Thankfully, there’s only a week left in season four so it’s not long till we’re going to find out. We can be sure that we’re in for a hell of a ride on this Fortnite rollercoaster and Epic are undoubtedly going to continue impressing. If you want more Fortnite goodness, check out how to get the Red Knight skin tonight here, and have a look at what this Twitch streamer did to these two bush campers.