Fortnite history
Fortnite Chapter 1: every season, 2017 to 2019
Fortnite Chapter 1 ran for ten seasons, from October 2017 to October 2019. It turned a side mode of a survival game into the biggest game in the world, and it ended by sucking the whole island into a black hole.
At a glance
| Season | Name | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | The beginning | 26 Oct 2017 to 13 Dec 2017 |
| Season 2 | Medieval | 14 Dec 2017 to 21 Feb 2018 |
| Season 3 | Space | 22 Feb 2018 to 30 Apr 2018 |
| Season 4 | Superheroes | 1 May 2018 to 11 Jul 2018 |
| Season 5 | Worlds collide | 12 Jul 2018 to 26 Sep 2018 |
| Season 6 | Darkness rises | 27 Sep 2018 to 5 Dec 2018 |
| Season 7 | Winter | 6 Dec 2018 to 27 Feb 2019 |
| Season 8 | Pirates and ninjas | 28 Feb 2019 to 8 May 2019 |
| Season 9 | The future | 9 May 2019 to 31 Jul 2019 |
| Season X | Out of time | 1 Aug 2019 to 13 Oct 2019 |
How it started
Fortnite began as Save the World, a paid co-op game. In September 2017 Epic released Battle Royale as a free mode: 100 players, one island, and the twist that you could build walls and ramps in seconds. Within months it was the most-watched game on Twitch.
Seasons 1 to 4: finding its feet
Season 2 brought the first Battle Pass, the system nearly every game now copies: a ladder of rewards you unlock by playing. Season 3 hung a meteor in the sky for weeks, teasing what was coming. In Season 4 it hit, flattening Dusty Depot into Dusty Divot. That season ended with a rocket launch that cracked the sky, Fortnite's first live event that everyone watched at the same moment.
Seasons 5 to 7: the world gets stranger
Rifts in Season 5 dropped places from other times onto the island, including a desert and a Viking ship. Season 6 introduced a purple cube, nicknamed Kevin by players, that rolled across the map and melted into Loot Lake. Season 7 brought snow, planes and, in December 2018, Creative mode, which let players build their own islands. That idea eventually grew into a big part of what Fortnite is today.
Seasons 8 to X: the big finish
Season 8 brought pirates, ninjas and a volcano that erupted at the end, and in Season 9 a futuristic city rose from the damage. In July 2019 the Fortnite World Cup filled a tennis stadium in New York, and 16-year-old Bugha won $3 million. Season X brought back old places and added mechs that many players hated. On 13 October 2019, The End event pulled everything into a black hole, and for about a day and a half the game showed nothing else.
Why it still matters
Chapter 1 set the template: a story told through the map itself, live events everyone attends together, and a Battle Pass that keeps you coming back. When Epic brought the Chapter 1 map back as Fortnite OG in November 2023, so many players returned that Fortnite set new player records.
