The end of a Fortnite Battle Royale season is a bittersweet thing, as we get lots of new toys and and a new battle pass, but we also have to say goodbye to a gameplay meta most of us only just got finally comfortable with. But the worst part is the wait for the new season to start while Fortnite is down for maintenance. Now that the Shattered live event has wrapped up and we’ve seen the end of the battle between the Ice King and Dwayne “The Foundation” Johnson, Fortnite has gone offline to deploy the Chapter 7 Season 3 update.
Fortunately, the wait shouldn’t be too long. Typically, these updates take around 4-7 hours to get ready, and Epic is anticipating about five hours of maintenance time for the Season 3 patch. That would mean the game may come back online around 10 PM PT / 1 AM ET–early enough that folks in Europe will have all day to game, which has rarely been the case with new season launches despite the continent’s massive playerbase.
That target time is just an estimate, though, and maintenance might take longer than that. Don’t hold it against them if that happens. While you’re waiting, you should go ahead and download the game update so you’re ready when the time comes, and read our run-down on everything new you can expect when the servers come back up.
When the servers come back online, players will be greeted with a dramatically changed Battle Royale island, which is getting the biggest mid-chapter makeover in Fortnite history. They’ll also be able to grind out a new battle pass, featuring a new John Wick skin with his dog as a sidekick, and the return of Dr. Slone.
