Fortnite map wiped out by black hole to mark end of Season 10

It is not clear when or even if the game will return

Related video: Fortnite season 10 official trailer (Fortnite)

Fortnite has been destroyed by a huge asteroid, and replaced with a black hole.

The in-game event wiped out the entire map and means that its millions of players are now unable to get into the game at all.

Instead, they have been encouraged to watch a mysterious live stream of a black hole.

The asteroid collision marked the end of Season 10. Developers Epic Games tend to mark the close of the game’s “seasons” with major events that can be watched within the game.

But it has led to a variety of questions about Season 11. Usually, such updates bring tweaks to the map or other alterations to the game – rather than wiping out the entire world and leaving it impossible to play.

It is not clear when or even if the game will return. (It is almost certain that it will, however, since Epic has made billions of dollars through the game.)

In the meantime, players have been encouraged to tune in to a wildly popular live stream which just shows the black hole. At some point, that will presumably reveal what is going to happen in Season 11.

Fortnite deleted everything else from its Twitter account and gave no more information about what had happened to the game.

Fans had expected Season 10 to come to a dramatic close, since Epic teased that there would be a major “The End” event over the weekend. It was also marked by a countdown timer which appeared within the game.

Players who were in the world when that timer reached its end saw a huge meteor shower fall on the map and seemingly destroy all of it. Those players then fell out of the world and the screen was replaced with the black hole – which continues to be all that is left of the game.

[14 October 2019 12:29 · Andrew Griffin]

There's a lot of chat on social media about China – which has its own version of Fortnite. There, the countdown is rumoured to be ticking down to tonight, when players will get their own version of the event.

That has led some to hope that Fortnite will come back for the rest of the world when that happens, or at least that it will offer some clue about what's happening.

It might! But it also might not – the Chinese version of Fortnite is run separately, and so might just be on an entirely different and unrelated schedule.

[14 October 2019 12:52 · Andrew Griffin]

(The China events happens in about 8 minutes – at 1pm UK time – so we might know more after that. But it might just be the same event, and mean that everyone is plunged into the mysterious black hole.)

[14 October 2019 13:06 · Andrew Griffin]

The event is happening in China now, and appears to be the same as the one everywhere else.

[14 October 2019 13:07 · Andrew Griffin]

The theory about the China event is that Epic wants to ensure that all players experience The End before they get the new update, so that everything happens at the same time. But that is just very much a theory, and there is no concrete indication that is actually going to happen.

[14 October 2019 13:10 · Andrew Griffin]

It appears from local social media and streams that The End event has now concluded in China, and they have all been sucked into the void. So now we'll finally see if the theory about waiting for that to happen before everything else starts will be correct!

[14 October 2019 13:17 · Andrew Griffin]

The China event is over, and now nothing has happened – beyond everyone in China also having to look, in puzzlement, at the black hole.

Those who argue for the China theory now suggest that people there need to see the numbers on the live stream, which took about seven hours.

[14 October 2019 13:33 · Andrew Griffin]

This is getting to be a big theory: Donald Mustard, who works at Epic, has tweeted about the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower is a key example of how long a black hole lasts.

(If this theory is true it would suggest that the game will be back about 7pm tonight. Maybe! But who knows really.)

[14 October 2019 13:52 · Andrew Griffin]

The US and Canada are both celebrating national holidays today: Colombus Day in the US, and Thanksgiving in Canada.

That means that schools are off today, and many businesses are closed, so there will probably be plenty of people trying to play.

I suppose that makes Epic's decision to shut the game down even more surprising and brave. But it also means there's likely to be a lot more resentment.

[14 October 2019 14:33 · Andrew Griffin]

It's been an hour and a half since China joined in The End, and started looking at the black hole too. And there has been absolutely nothing in terms of developments.

[14 October 2019 14:56 · Andrew Griffin]

Nintendo has a support article for people "unable to play Fortnite due to Blackout". But it doesn't say very much that's very useful: only that yes, you definitely can't play, but also that your V-Bucks and inventory has not disappeared.

"The information in this article can help you when you're unable to play Fortnite during the Fortnite Blackout," the support page reads.

"Due to the Fortnite Blackout, all game modes are currently unavailable for play. Please be assured that your inventory items and V-Bucks are secure."