Fortnite Chapter 3 Season 2: Start Time, Leaks, And What We Know So Far

Fortnite Chapter 3, Season 1 is presumably coming to a close, but surprisingly, Epic hasn't yet mentioned Fortnite Season 2 publicly. We have very good reason to believe the season is just around the corner, but due to what appears to be external factors, the run-up to the new season is quieter than perhaps any season before it. The rumor mill is buzzing as always, and we look primed to enter a new Fortnite era in just a matter of days, but there are still many questions left to be answered. Here's all we know about Fortnite Chapter 3, Season 2.

Fortnite Chapter 3, Season 2 start time

Fortnite's next season is likely to kick off sometime around March 20. The reason we can assume this is because the current battle pass is set to expire on March 19 according to the battle pass menu within the game. That would put the new season's start date on a Sunday, which falls in line with recent seasons. It seems Epic has taken a liking to ending a season on a Saturday and kicking off the new season the next day.

However, there may be extended downtime between seasons. Sometimes Fortnite goes down for a day or more while a major new season update is applied. If that's the case this season, Fortnite would likely be back up later that week, so you can expect it to return to normal within a few days of March 19 at the very latest.

Fortnite Season 1 finale event

With the end of every season, many players look forward to a finale event. While not every season of Fortnite has an event, most do. Virtually everything leaks in Fortnite. Right now, though, dataminers have found no indications of a season finale event within the game's files. That could mean one of two things:

1. There is no finale event, and the bridge between seasons will occur with nothing more than typical downtime.
2. There will be a live event, and a future game update will include references to it.

Dataminers suspect that this season has had its final update, hence why they believe there will be no finale event. Barring any unforeseen surprises, it seems this next season is poised to arrive not with a bang, but with a whimper. The reason for that may be a unique one that Epic has never had to deal with before. Next season's theme seems to revolve around a war between the Imagined Order and The Seven. This has likely been in the works for months, but now the militaristic season is due to arrive just as real-world war and tragedy sweep the headlines, relating to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

We've seen at least one other publisher, Nintendo, change its plans around launching games that depict war, even when the game in question--Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp--is quite lighthearted and cartoonish in its style. Might Epic be scrambling to alter how it presents it apparently war-themed season? Might it even delay the season entirely? The answer to both questions is a resounding "probably."

Fortnite Season 1 story recap

This season has revolved around The Seven and the Imagined Order, particularly with regard to The Paradigm, the ousted member of The Seven who is possibly the key to defeating the IO before it can regain its position of dominance over the island. That's the opinion of The Scientist, anyway, who has spent all season trying to convince the rest of the masked group to allow The Paradigm to re-join the group.

At the conclusion of Chapter 2, The Foundation and Jonesy successfully flipped the island to defeat the Cube Queen, and in doing so, also sent Doctor Slone and the IO packing, too--but not for long. Deep beneath the surface of the island of Artemis, Slone and the IO have been drilling in an effort to re-emerge and likely attack The Seven.

Drills have appeared all across the island, and slowly but surely the IO has regained something of a foothold, albeit still a contested one. Rumors of Season 2's Seven-IO war further indicate that next season will be all about these two factions going head to head for control of the island. The IO wishes to control The Loop, while The Seven seeks to break it. It's likely that players will be caught in the middle of this struggle and maybe even have to choose sides.

As seen in the below tweet, leakers have also found data that points to how the story will change gameplay in Season 2, with things like tanks, a zeppelin, and vehicle modding further pointing to all-out warfare on Artemis. You can bet we'll have full coverage of these new features and more as soon as the season goes live later this month.

Such lingering story threads do seem to suggest a live event is on the way, as The Paradigm's dramatic return feels exactly like the sort of thing we'd see in an event. Then again, we've waited years for some lore payoffs, so we may not see her swoop in for a long time anyway.

As always with Fortnite, the road ahead is peppered with both rumors and leaks, which combine to give us an incomplete picture of where Fortnite will go next. Wherever it goes, we'll be there to cover it, so stick around as we draw ever nearer to Fortnite Chapter 3, Season 2.