the end of a world

Fortnite Is Dead. Long Live Fortnite.

Photo: Epic Games

If you were planning to spend a good 24 hours or so playing Epic Games’ Fortnite yesterday, you’ve already discovered the terrible news yourself. During a live event (ominously entitled “The End”) concluding Fortnite’s tenth season on Sunday, the universe of the game was obliterated, its entire map sucked into a black hole. (You can see video of the destruction here courtesy of IGN.) But while fans might have assumed the game’s new iteration would immediately launch in its stead (or at least a trailer, anything!), something more mysterious is afoot. As of early Monday morning, the game is still gone and players fervently checking for its return are treated only to the ever-present hole.

Meanwhile, Fortnite also erased its Twitch account, updated its Instagram with black hole pics and deleted all its tweets but one. (You guessed it. It’s a pic of the black hole.) As for when the game will return, fans are trying to furiously decipher the series of seemingly random numbers spotted floating in the void near the black hole, which at least is a fun distraction from the zero Fortnite they’ll be enjoying for the foreseeable future. In the meantime, feel free to check out the black hole’s livestream below.

Fortnite Is Dead. Long Live Fortnite.