New Fortnite Landmass Has Players Speculating About Another Volcano

The Fortnite island used to be home to an active volcano, and some players are wondering if another is soon to emerge from the ocean deep. With the 16.30 update has come a peculiar new landmass just below Flush Factory in the southern part of the map. It has no name and is mostly featureless, save for a few spots where loot may appear in any given round, but it does consist of one other quality that has players theory-crafting: It's rather steamy.

Seeming to appear from the deep waters, this smallish body of land is always emitting steam, as though things are heating up in this region. Players are trying to connect dots, and they may be right to do so. Rarely in Fortnite is anything a coincidence or done without much thought toward Epic's mysterious but everpresent lore bible.

"I honestly thought that the ice age would be next but then i realized there was a s*** ton of Pangea and tectonic movement and volcanic activity before the actual ice age took place," speculated one player on Reddit. "The prehistoric age was very tropical and we could be seeing this next season and then a meteor wipes everything out causing the ice age for season 8."

"OMG, so in this chapter, the volcano happened BEFORE the [Iceberg]," exclaimed another player, citing what fans call the Inversion Theory, which suggests that Fortnite Chapter 2 is unfolding like Chapter 1 but backward.

One thing that seems unlikely, as some early guesswork suggested, is that this new and apparently volcanic island is going to be home to Batman's Batcave. That Place of Interest has already cropped up in Slurpy Swamp alongside this week's update. There's a chance the Batcave is moved, but Batman's makeshift headquarters being in the woods aligns with the Fortnite X Batman crossover comic, which depicts it in the same spot.

There are other competing theories, too, and some are simpler than anything the diehard lore-chasers may suggest. Given the landmass' close proximity to the toilet manufacturer, Flush Factory, one Redditor may have already solved the mystery. "Pretty sure it is just a pile of s***."

More likely, this emerging landmass will be revealed as an important piece of this season's endgame. We'll keep an eye on this region with each update to see how it changes as the rest of the season plays out.

We don't yet know whether Fortnite Season 6 will feature a season-ending event, but most seasons of Fortnite do these days. And even when they don't, like the end of Season 5 in March, an event came with the start of Season 6 instead.

Fortnite Season 6 is currently scheduled to end on June 8, though these dates do sometimes change on the fly as Epic prepares for each new season. In the meantime, catch up on more lore with this week's Spire Quest, including the final boss Raz, whom you can defeat with one hit if you do it right.