Fortnite Season 6: Leaks explain purple cube mystery and likely release date revealed

Rumours suggest what new challenges, skins and map features players can expect

Season 6 of Fortnite: Battle Royale is nearly upon us, with the final Week 10 challenges for Season 5 released this week.

So what surprises lay in store for players of the wildly popular game? Various leaks have sprung up online, revealing possible new skins, new map features, and new challenges.

When is Season 6 launching?

No official announcement has been made about the release date of Season 6, with Fortnite developers Epic Games preferring to keep people guessing.

Based on past launches of new seasons, the next one can be expected one week after the launch of the Week 10 challenges.

The Season 5 Week 10 challenges included finding jigsaw puzzle pieces, which were hidden in basements around the Fortnite map.

This would mean Fortnite Season 6 will launch on Thursday, 20 September.

The purple cube

The biggest mystery surrounding Season 6 is what will happen to the giant purple cube that mysteriously appeared on the Fortnite map in August.

Since then, the cube has been periodically moving to various locations and leaving scorched patterns – or 'runes' – on the ground.

The mysterious box in Fortnite Battle Royale is burning symbols into the ground beneath it (Epic Games)

Several theories have emerged regarding the cube's purpose, however none have proved conclusive.

The most likely explanation is that the cube is heading towards Loot Lake, where it will trigger the beginning of Season 6.

A new futuristic city?

Another supposed leak suggests the purple cube will absorb all of the water from the lake at the end of Season 5 and send energy to the small atmospheric domes it has left in its wake.

"The Enforcers are the ones who sent the cube. The Enforcers can't live in Earth's atmosphere so they must change it. The cube creates small domes that mimic their plant's atmosphere," according to the alleged leak, which appeared on the notorious imageboard website 4chan before being widely shared across social media.

The mysterious purple cube spawned after a lightning storm (Epic Games)

"Season 5 will end w/ loot lake drained and the domes twice as large. The trailer for season 6 will show people walking up to the cube and getting struck and bounced away."

Skin themes will apparently be "dark world versions of regular skins", as well as new futuristic ones. "During the season, the Enforcers will build a futuristic city around [Loot Lake]," the leaker stated, while also attaching an image of an exploding cube to add some credibility.

New skins for Season 6

A major leak on 6 September revealed a number of new Fortnite skins – or player outfits.

They include a masked figure, an army commando and a character in a top hat.

With less than a week to go before the expected launch of Fortnite Season 6, more leaks can be expected.