Fortnite Queues Are Pushing An Hour-Long In Chapter 5 Season 1

Update: Although servers are back online to kick off Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1, many players are finding themselves unable to jump right in. That's due to the fact that we're seeing inordinately long queues--lasting upwards of an hour--despite the fact that we're now well into launch day, which might speak to how much interest the new chapter is generating. Those who get through the queue have also been encountering matchmaking issues, although Epic says those have been resolved. Other problems have also popped up, such as the Shuffle Loadout feature not working, while players have also raised UI-related complaints. If you're unable to log in, be sure to check out the new Chapter 5 Season 1 battle pass to see what awaits. The original story follows.

Fortnite servers are down. But don't worry; they're supposed to be. Following another cataclysmic live event, this time called The Big Bang, a whole new world is upon us in what is widely expected to be called Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1. If you're wondering when the Fortnite servers will be back up following the end of Fortnite OG, here's what we know.

Fortnite down - when will servers be back up for Chapter 5 Season 1?

Fortnite is currently in scheduled downtime following the Chapter 4 finale event, The Big Bang. This means Chapter 5 is upon us and with it will come new weapons, a whole new island, and a new battle pass, among other things. But none of that matters until the Fortnite servers are letting players back into the game. Epic likes to keep this a surprise, but recent history suggests Fortnite will be playable again sometime around 4 AM PT - 7 AM ET / 7 AM PT - 10 AM ET tomorrow, December 3. This three-hour window is our best guess based on having covered several years of Fortnite by now, and as always, the actual time is subject to change for a number of reasons.

That's because the patch deployment ultimately determines the launch time. It seems as though Epic aims for the earliest end of that launch window, 4 AM PT / 7 AM PT, but things can get delayed if the team runs into issues. Then again, Epic could even simply decide to launch the new chapter later--or even sooner--though that would seem less likely. Basically, if you want to set your alarm for a time to wake up, jump online, and beat the Fortnite queue (as best you can, anyway), you'll want to aim for 4 AM PT / 7 AM ET. Still, be prepared to wait some amount of minutes before you can get into the lobby, as new seasons and chapters tend to come with queues that keep the game from crashing when many millions of players all seek to play it in the same moment.

Fortnite Chapter 5 is said to be something of a new beginning for the game, and three major new games found inside Fortnite: Lego Fortnite, Rocket Racing, and Fortnite Festival.