Fortnite Season 8 will soon be upon us and as is usual, things have begun to change on the map, this time with enormous cracks in the ground appearing. These events were hinted at with rumbling earthquakes and it seems it’s all building up to something pretty spectacular. Data-miners have discovered information that points to the 27th of February being the date for ‘the big one,’ a quake that may radically reshape the Fortnite map for Season 8, but what could it look like?
Well, we got a hint yesterday when Epic dropped a teaser on Twitter that points to a pretty clear theme. With the text “X Marks The Spot, treasure abound. Loot that has been lost, can always be found.” they posted the photo in the gallery down below.
“X marks the spot”? An image of a hooked hand? “Treasure abound”? You don’t have to be Blackbeard to work out where those land-lubbers at Epic “arrrrr” going with this. Yup, it’s pretty clear that Season 8 is going to be entirely about cowboys. Or uh, possibly pirates.
Now, they’ve uploaded a second teaser image (also in the gallery below) with the text: “Sssomething shimmers, Within the cave… But beware of those, Who arrive on waves. 3 days to Season 8.” So, maybe we’re going to see some kind of snake-pirate?
In a suspiciously generous move (no doubt feeling Apex Legends snapping at their heels), Epic have even offered players a chance to get the Season 8 Battle Pass for free so long as they complete 13 Overtime Challenges. These consist of tasks like searching out hidden coins, finding waterfalls, damaging opponents with particular weapons or searching chests in particular locations.
All things considered, Season 8 could be make or break for Fortnite. It’s still the most played game in the world, but revenue declined by a surprising 50% in January. Given its popularity, that’s still a whole bunch of money, but perhaps players are starting to look elsewhere for their battle royale thrills. After all, no game can be the most popular in the world forever.
In the meantime, I’ll be logging into Fortnite on the 27th of February to catch the live event as it goes down and see the map being torn asunder. Will you?