The creators of “Fortnite: Battle Royale” are known for keeping players on their toes with weekly – and sometimes daily – additions to the game, including new items, limited-time game modes, and fun and interesting challenges.
In lieu of simply announcing what the newest addition to the game will be, the developers will often leave cryptic hints and easter eggs scattered across the island (or in the game’s code) for the most dedicated fans to decode ahead of time.
In Fortnite, there is no more hotly-anticipated change than the transitioning of Seasons, which brings a new theme to the game’s Battle Pass, and often many cosmetic changes to the map. For example, in the days leading up to the beginning of Season 4, the game hinted that a meteor shower would change the island forever. When the meteor did hit, it caused a large crater in the enter of the map, turning Dusty Depot into the craterous Dusty Divot.
Now, Season 5 is only three days away and Epic Games’ clues are only getting weirder and more mysterious. In addition to the in-game easter eggs that we’ve come to expect from Epic, hints toward the future of the game have also started to appear in the real world.
Here's an overview of all the biggest changes to Fortnite ahead of Season 5:
Two weekends ago, a one-time in-game event featured a rocket launch and rifts in the space-time continuum, and nothing has been the same on the island since.
The huge rocket embedded into the side of the mountain just northeast of Snobby Shores - which many, including this reporter, previously believed to be a missile - launched into the sky last Saturday, and nearly obliterated Tilted Towers before a crack in the space-time continuum swallowed it up.
After traveling in and out through a few more inter-dimensional "rifts," the rocket eventually careened into an invisible dome above the center of the map, causing a large crack to form in the sky. The sun rose shortly afterward, and the rocket was gone.
You can watch a full cinematic-style recording of the launch, recorded and edited by YouTube filmmaker Enzait Films here:
Since the launch, rifts have been spotted all over the map, and a few of the map's landmarks have disappeared through them.
One player managed to capture a video of the goofy-faced burger sign disappearing into a rift from atop the Durr Burger restraunt:
You will be missed Durr Burger #Fortnite 🙁 pic.twitter.com/TlRHtUJeoy
— Derp 🏆 (@DerpBoi3) July 5, 2018
The signs welcoming players to Lonely Lodge and the motel in Anarchy Acres have also mysteriously disappeared in the same way since the rocket launch.
Then, a landmark from the game resurfaced...in the real world.
On Friday last week, a photographer from Los Angeles spotted the Durr Burger statue in the California desert.
What.... is this... I’m in the middle of the desert why is this here??? pic.twitter.com/oTMiGc0Wno
— Sela Shiloni (@selashiloni) July 6, 2018
To satisfy the nay-sayers, he also posted a video of the statue.
The video revealed a Fortnite-animation-style police car and a tent nearby, with a sign that read "IF YOU CAN READ THIS YOU'RE IN RANGE OF THE ANOMOLY."
Person on insta said it’s from Fortnight? pic.twitter.com/gpPGee0WNf
— Sela Shiloni (@selashiloni) July 6, 2018
And by Monday, llama piñatas — the game's mascot — had been spotted all over Europe.
Photos of the loot llamas in London, Barcelona, Cologne, and Warsaw have already been posted on the Fortnite subreddit thread.
Meanwhile, seemingly foreign objects started appearing in the game, apparently being spit out by the rifts.
A few of the newest additions include this large stage coach...
A Horse Carriage came out of the rift near Moisty Mire. Looks like it's straight from the WILD WEST #Fortnite #FortniteSeason5 pic.twitter.com/3TF0Z1RLSq
— Kai Peterson (@Kai_Peterson_) July 8, 2018
...and this anchor, both spotted by Fortnite blogger Kai Peterson:
An Anchor came out of the newest rift near Greasy. I wonder what's gonna come out of the massive rift in the sky? 🤔#Fortnite pic.twitter.com/2ZOYArtEk1
— Kai Peterson (@Kai_Peterson_) July 6, 2018
But what does it all mean?!
The cryptic clues and wacky antics are mounting in preparation for the transition to Battle Pass Season 5 this week.
Because each in-game season is themed, fans have been scrambling to put all the puzzle pieces together before the big reveal this Thursday.
The leading theory, started by known dataminers @TwoEpicBuddies, is that Season 5 will be desert-themed, as evidenced by the appearance of the Durr Burger in the California desert, and the sphynx-looking mask featured in Epic's latest teaser poster.
Others have suggested the stage coach and some leaked data files could be pointing toward a Wild West theme for Season 5, but that wouldn't explain the meaning of the rifts or why multiple landmarks and llamas are being spotted in the real world.
Luckily, we won't have to wait long to know exactly what this all means for the future of Fortnite.
Season 5 will go live after a short period of downtime on Thursday morning!
