Updated at 03:57 CT: Still no sign of the servers coming up, but Epic has confirmed update download issues on Android devices, which may be holding up the show for everyone else.
Updated at 17:17 CT: A new season trailer that is due to go live in eight hours may have betrayed Epic’s plan. It would make sense that the scheduled trailer on the official Fortnite Youtube channel will be used to kick off the chapter, so it seems likely this is when the servers will come back up.
Original article: If you have been trying to log into Fortnite, you’ve probably discovered that the servers are down. Fear not; this is all part of the plan. The end of Chapter Three and the Fractured event is now over, and the servers have been taken down to prepare the game for the start of the next chapter. While the Epic staff is busy trying to ensure a smooth start to Chapter Four, there is little to do but sit around and wait.
When can I play Fortnite again?
Epic has grown reluctant to give exact times for when the servers will come back up, but we can draw a pretty good guess based on previous seasons. The maintenance time will likely last at least 12 hours or so before the servers come back up for Chapter Four. This does vary, but 12 hours is a pretty solid average based on previous season changes. There is always the chance that this might take longer as it is a full Chapter change, but that really shouldn’t matter too much.
With servers going offline around 4 PM CT, this means they could come back online at 4 AM CT. Epic has shown before that they can have little regard for the sleep patterns of American fans, so be prepared to get up early if you want to jump back in as soon as you can.
Once the game comes back up, there will be a lot to do, with a whole new island, new NPCs, dozen of new quests, new fish to catch, and all the usual adventures to get up to. We expect to see new Mythic and Exotic weapons and, hopefully, some new areas bosses to fight. We are also extremely excited to see how the story continues to play out, as there are still so many unanswered questions that we need to have explained.
For now, you will just need to reassemble your patience the way that we have just managed to put the island back together. Be sure to check the Epic Games Public Status page for more information on server downtime, or you can keep an eye on the official Fortnite Status Twitter to keep up to date.
