Is Fortnite Really Over? The End Appears to Have Broken the Game and the Internet

Is Fortnite really over? Honestly, from what we can gather after today’s events, it’s pretty hard to tell what’s going on right now. Fortnite: Battle Royale had a pretty scary countdown earlier which millions of people tuned in for. We’re talking literal millions, by the way. As of about an hour ago, there were over 6 million concurrent viewers on Twitch and 4 million on YouTube, all united to watch some decidedly spooky things happen on the Fortnite live stream, which is still going. 

Honestly, we can’t look away. The literal black hole that was Fortnite’s The End countdown is also being broadcasted on Twitter, so you too can check that out using this link. The only thing that’s accessible right now if you’re one of the unlucky few who’s valiantly trying to get a peek behind the apocalyptic curtain is this black hole, and the option to exit the game. All players, locations, and accompaniments were swallowed by this swirling space vortex earlier but as to what happens now is really anyone’s guess. By all accounts, with absolutely no content left for players to engage with outside of a black hole that’s now spitting out random numbers, it looks like Fortnite is, at least for now, truly over. 

Sure, we know it’s probably just a season overhaul because of the new cosmetics that have been added to the store recently, but taking the entire game down in a rather terrifying turn of events is on the side of wacky that borders on genius. What better way to get a bunch of eyeballs on the game than by making it the only thing that people can talk about by sheer virtue of confusion and terror? Fans are out there coming up with all sorts of conspiracy theories about what’s going on, including this one particular Konami easter egg which has the community wondering about what the tie-in is with the upcoming season. It feels a bit like we’re in the Matrix, and not only because the black hole is continuing to vomit up random numbers as per the Twitch stream. 

We don’t know what will happen when the dust settles on Fortnite’s “The End” event but for now, it’s not only broken the game; it sure as hell has also broken the internet.