Fortnite seemingly shut down by Epic Games to end Season X

Fortnite, the battle royale game that has become a worldwide phenomenon, is gone. At least for a little while.

For the past few days, many Fortnite content creators have been sharing their thoughts on what the season 11 kickoff event would be. Though previous season-ending events were built up for weeks to a somewhat predictable conclusion, the only hint fans received on Fortnite Season X’s end was an ominous tweet from the official Fortnite account that said “this is the end.”

Benjamin “DrLupo” Lupo tweeted, “Imagine they just delete the game and disappear from the internet LOL.”

That was on Friday. By Sunday, that quip was a reality as the world was destroyed, the Fortnite category was erased from Twitch, and the game’s Twitter account was scrubbed.

Several members of the community posted tweets saying that the game had been deleted. Soleil “Ewok” Wheeler shared a screenshot of the game screen. It said thanks for the support and had an option to uninstall the game.

Fortnite’s world seemingly destroyed to end Season X

Fortnite seasons typically end in fantastic fashion, ranging from kaiju battles to volcanic eruptions. This season was no different as the world of Fortnite was battered by meteors, turned into a black hole, and disappeared.

The official Fortnite Twitter was changed to reflect this, with the avatar being turned to a solid black square and the banner becoming a cosmic void with a black hole in the middle. The only hint of the game surviving came in the form of a Periscope stream showing the black hole shimmering.

Social media exploded with memes and posts which appeared to have been edited tweets from the Fortnite account telling everyone they were ungrateful and that they shut down the servers. The 2018 tweet from Elon Musk suggesting that he planned to buy Fortnite just to delete it also resurfaced.

For now though, a classic-style arcade game appeared on some Fortnite streams. By entering the Contra code, players can players can play a classic space shooter-style game which features a piece of pizza shooting cheeseburgers out of the sky.

Is Fortnite really gone forever?

Some may be worried about whether Fortnite truly is gone for good, but the launch of Fortnite 2: The Next Chapter has been leaked. It is unclear what Epic has planned for it but many are expecting a significant overhaul to the game.

Though the 11th season will likely arrive before long, many are treating Fortnite as though it is truly dead, reflecting on their experiences and discussing what Fortnite has meant to them. During a squad Stream Jack “Courage” Dunlop, DrLup, Dennis “Cloakzy” Lepore, and Tim “TimtheTatMan” Betar were streaming the arcade game and discussing theories.

No one knows how this will end, but millions are watching and waiting for a resolution.