Fortnite Season 8 is about to host its big, season-ending live event on December 4, and you need to get fully prepared for the intense action that’s about to unfold. In this no-nonsense explainer, we’ll outline all you need to know about the upcoming festivities. Want to know what time everything starts and how early you need to log in to see it? Curious about what the latest event leaks might be saying about Chapter 3? We’ve got all that and more listed below, so let’s get down to business.
What time does the Fortnite Season 8 “The End” live event start?
According to an in-game countdown timer that first appeared on the afternoon of November 24, the Fortnite Season 8 live event is expected to begin December 4 at 4 p.m. Eastern.
Fortnite’s developers at Epic Games have made adjustments to similar countdown timers in the past to reflect seasonal delays, but, considering the above-listed start time has not wavered in nearly 10 days, we expect the studio will stick to this announced event timing.
In its official “The End” event blog post, Epic suggests players queue up 30 minutes early to have the best chance to see the event. The special lobby supports parties of up to 16 players, so make sure to invite all your friends if you’d like to make a shared viewing experience out of the finale. Servers will absolutely be unstable if you wait too long to log in, so we advise following the advice Epic has offered.
What do the Fortnite Season 8 live event leaks and teaser reveal?
Given that we’re about to discuss multiple leaks from reputable sources, it goes without saying that some SPOILERS might be revealed. If you’d rather go into “The End” event totally blind, consider this sentence your warning to leave.
With that disclaimer out of the way, we’ll say that, in general, leaks regarding the specifics of the Season 8 live event have been a bit light. Those who’ve kept a close eye on Battle Royale during Season 8 will likely know the story of the Cube Queen who’s been slowly amassing purple-hued forces from her constricted pyramid sitting at the center of the map. In response, the Imagined Order and those hoping to save the Island have built bases, turrets, and even BRUTE mechs to prepare for the inevitable standoff. Considering all these tools have been added to the game, they’ll presumably feature in a big way during the event.
fortnite season timer
And that seems all the more true considering what leaks and Epic’s official information tells us. Because this event allows us to squad up with so many friends, one has to imagine event participants will be able to wage war directly against the Sideways forces. Leaks have said the Cube Queen herself may even function as an NPC and that her Last Reality army will be able to eliminate those who get in her way.
A key factor in this fight will of course be the pyramid, which has its own secrets hidden in spectrogram images formed by the sounds it makes. In this graphic shared by HYPEX, we see lightning shooting up and down all areas of the structure.
The pyramid showing off its shocking power
It seems probable this will be the queen’s main weapon, designed to add more nefarious foes to her ranks. However, it will also be doing heavy damage to the underground Zero Point energy source that stabilizes the Island.
On the good guys’ side, there are two X factors to consider: Kevin the Cube and the Foundation.
As much as the other cubic forces on the Island aren’t our friends, one golden cube stands alone who may hold some sort of power to stop the others.
If anyone knows that secret, we suspect it might be the Foundation, who briefly showed their face during the Season 8 launch trailer. As the supposed leader of the Seven, an organization created to free the inhabitants of the Island from its Loop, the Foundation is perhaps the most knowledgeable character in the Fortnite universe. And, it just so happens Epic and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson seem to be collaborating on Foundation-related teases leading up to the event.
In a recently tweeted promotional video for ZOAEnergy drink, also shared by Epic Games CEO Donald Mustard, we clearly see that the Rock has a Foundation helmet in his fridge, essentially confirming the long-held assumption that the actor-wrestler lends — or at least will lend — his vocal talents to the character. This notion is backed up by leaker iFireMonkey who previously suggested the Foundation will have voice lines during the event.
The Rock showing off his Fortnite gear
Combining all these disparate pieces together, we get what seems like a decently clear view of the Season 8 live event.
Players fight directly against the Cubes using new weapons, and they’re helped by characters like the Foundation and Kevin. But, when it comes to figuring out who wins that fight, the situation appears a bit bleaker.
As the Cube Queen continues to shock the Zero Point with her harnessed energy, something predictably goes awry, and it will reportedly cause enough damage to take the Fortnite servers down for a few days, presumably until the morning of December 6 or December 7 when the Season 8 battle pass is scheduled to end. In other words, the infamous black hole will return.
An early look at the first Chapter 3 trailer
But that’s not all, as we have additional hints about what happens once those servers return thanks to the Chapter 3 trailer leak that emerged on the evening of December 1.
Amidst all this chaos, the Fortnite Island as we know it is destroyed and is somehow completely flipped upside down. That’s where we enter Chapter 3: on a completely new Island called “The Flipside.” It won't be long before we know exactly how much of these leaked details are proven true.