When does Fortnite Chapter 5 Start? We’ll cover what we know about the Fortnite Chapter 5 start date and why it’s coming in 2023.
Fortnite has new seasons pretty regularly. New items, some map changes, generally a refresh. What about new Chapters though? Those are much rarer. Only coming every once in a while, a Chapter is a complete relaunch for the game. There’s a new map, new mechanics, everything changes. Even the Fortnite season count gets reset to zero. Since we’re still in Chapter 4, if you’re waiting for a big change, you might be asking when does Fortnite Chapter 5 start?
When is the Fortnite Chapter 5 start date? It’s a bit tricky to tell. Epic only explains when a season ends once we’re very close to it. On top of that, every season of Fortnite has had a different length. Each Chapter has varied wildly in length. However, we can identify a general trend. Between that and some Fortnite leaks recently, we have a much better idea of when does Fortnite Chapter 5 start.
We can actually point towards a pretty solid end date for the current Chapter of Battle Royale. We know pretty securely when we’re going to be getting a brand-new map, and one of the major changes that are coming to the map design philosophy as a whole with the Fortnite Chapter 4 end.
When does Fortnite Chapter 5 Start?
Epic doesn’t advertise end dates until we’re close to them happening, just because of how much they tend to move stuff around. There’s no point getting players excited for a new launch if it’s only pencilled in. Because of this, we only “officially” know a season or Chapter’s end date about a week before, when Epic confirms they’re done messing with the in-game timer for the season expiring.
For Fortnite Chapter 5 though, we have something nearly as good as Epic’s official tweet announcing the end time. In internal communications that came with their switch to zero hiring, Epic Games laid out their priorities. One of the main “can’t fail” projects was Fortnite Chapter 5. This was scheduled to launch in late 2023.
Fortnite Chapter 1 lasted 10 seasons (not including the unnamed Chapter zero), Chapter 2 lasted eight, and Chapter 3 then only last four. If the timing on the internal announcement is to be believed too, the next season will likely only last four seasons too. They’ve gotten much much shorter. Up until very recently, they were getting significantly shorter every time.
There are a few reasons why Epic might be hitting the reset button so soon though. This Chapter doesn’t necessarily mean every Fortnite Chapter is going to be 4 seasons long, although that could be the case too. It does seem like the answer to when does Fortnite Chapter 5 start is four seasons too.
Why is the Fortnite Chapter 5 Start Date so Soon?
Compared to C2 and 1, C3 and C4 have been tiny. Each of these new Chapters actually coincided with a major shift for Fortnite though.
The move from Chapter 3 to Chapter 4 was likely done to make the most out of the brand-new engine Epic was using. It was also supposed to coincide with the launch of Unreal FN. At that point, dubbed Creative 2.0. Since the Chapter launched around the holiday season there were some delays, but we did eventually get UnrealFN and it’s proved to be worth the wait. That was why that Chapter ended so soon. Rather than being down to the map or a problem, it was changed over since the new map better takes advantage of all the strengths of the new Unreal Engine. Unreal won’t be to blame for Fortnite Chapter 4 end though.
The Chapter 5 start date has already had some explanation. A recent map change, the Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 3 update, was pretty bad for Zero Builds. Players were unable to get around certain areas properly in Zero Builds since mobility is so low. The sunken Jungle biome was specifically designed with building letting players get vertical easily. It was designed before that mode. Zero Builds taking off might have had an effect on the answer to when does Fortnite Chapter 5 start.
What about the supposed Fortnite Chapter 5 start date though? Epic has made it clear that the map was designed before Zero Builds was a thing. It’s frustrating for the half of the Fortnite player base who use that mode. They’ve already said the Chapter 5 map will be different though, designed with both Builds and Zero Builds in mind. Getting to that map quicker is going to cut down on all these launch problems that have been happening lately.
When Does Fortnite Chapter 4 End?
That’s why we think the Fortnite Chapter 5 start date is happening when it does. The end date of Chapter 4 could be different though. Fortnite Chapter 1 actually ended a few days before the second started. The Fortnite Black Hole event kept the game down for days first.
The Chapter 4 end date might actually be a few days before Chapter 5 launches. We can’t know for sure till later though. We likely won’t know how long down time will be until we’re halfway through the Fortnite live event it seems! We’ll probably know when does Fortnite Chapter 5 start at the same time.
That’s all we know about the Fortnite Chapter 5 start date and Chapter 4 end date. Ultimately, it is down to change. With Epic having quite a few more bugs and issuing building maps lately, it wouldn’t be too weird for the Chapter to get extended. At the moment this is what we know about the start and end though.
