Fortnite season nine is confirmed to last 12 weeks, beginning this Thursday, May 9. It’ll also come to an end a little later than normal on Thursday, Aug. 1. This sets it to last for approximately three months, compared to the usual 10 weeks of most other seasons, including the current one.
The length of season nine was confirmed by a PS4 event notification found by FortniteNews. The picture, which you can see below, shows that the event begins on May 9 and the deadline is Aug. 1, bringing the season total to 84 days. While this may seem surprisingly long, the Fortnite World Cup finals are confirmed to happen in season nine—so this makes sense.
Some fans are curious about why season nine will last so long. The Battle Pass could be bigger than usual, but this isn’t likely. Challenges would need to have 12 weeks instead of 10. Battle Passes were only 100 tiers in the past, making for an even 10 weeks, so it would need to be around 120 tiers to make up the difference.
The more likely scenario, though, is that there will be a new set of Overtime challenges to make up the difference in this new season. It’s also possible that there will be a major summer event in Fortnite that could last a week or two. Regardless of the reason behind the increase in season nine’s length, it’s set to be longest season yet in battle royale history.
It remains to be seen what season nine will entail, but we do have hints that it will be space and future-themed at the slightest. With the volcano eruption that destroyed Tilted Towers and Retail Row in the process, the stage is set for an intriguing season to start later this week.
