March 19, 2022: Epic has confirmed the Fortnite Chapter 3 downtime for tonight, so Season 2 is only hours away.
The Fortnite Chapter 3 Season 2 start time is not exactly confirmed, but Epic Games has finally revealed when the downtime will begin – our best indication yet of when the new season will begin. It seems the conclusion to Chapter 3 Season 1 is going to be completely without fanfare, as Epic normally provides a series of teasers in the week leading up to a new Fortnite season, but those teasers are nowhere to be found this time.
The image above is actually a new one from the Nintendo Store listing for Fortnite. Community members discovered it on March 16, but while this specific image is new, it doesn’t actually tell us anything. That’s just a battle bus under a slightly pink sky – not a proper teaser for whatever we can expect from Season 2 of the battle royale game.
Chapter 3 Season 1 officially ends today, but you wouldn’t know that from any official Fortnite accounts as Epic has chosen complete silence over hyping Season 2. Now, finally, it at least confirms when the downtime will start – allowing us to take a guess.
FORTNITE Chapter 3 Season 2 Start Time
Fortnite Chapter 3 Season 2 is likely to begin around 2-4am PT / 5-7am ET / 9-11am GMT on Sunday, March 20. Epic confirms that the Season 2 downtime will start at 12am PT / 3am ET / 7am GMT, with matchmaking being disabled 30 minutes beforehand – and Fortnite’s downtimes usually only last between two to four hours.
Downtime for Chapter 3 Season 2 will start at 3:00 AM ET (07:00 UTC) with matchmaking being disabled 30 minutes prior. pic.twitter.com/qVI1MmzxNG
— Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) March 19, 2022
As for when Epic will offer any hint as to what Season 2 will be about, that’s up in the air. Shuri from Marvel’s Black Panther is one collaboration fans can expect, as well as potentially Doctor Strange, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and maybe even the Doom Slayer.
Recent teasers seemed to suggest a Doctor Who crossover was coming in soon, but that was revealed to simply be a Creative mode island produced by the BBC. As the company notes in the official announcement, “this is an independently created Fortnite Creative experience and is not sponsored, endorsed, or administered by Epic Games,” though there is a spray you can earn for checking it out. Presumably, this mode will still be available when the new season starts.
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