Phones are blowing up. Kids are racing off the bus in panic. Listen closely, and you can hear enraged screams coming from nearby basements. As the final school bell rang out on Nov. 3, the world suddenly became a warzone for many, including freshman Kason Schneider.
“It was very intense,” Kason said. “Nobody was talking; no one was on TikTok or YouTube. We just had to try and play our hardest.”
This catastrophe is not the purge nor the zombie apocalypse.
The original map of Fortnite just came back out.
An immediate pop culture phenomenon since its debut in 2017, Fortnite is an online video game where players around the world all compete to be the last man standing in the arena and claim the title of a “#1 Victory Royale,” or a first-place win. The game has different “seasons” that last about 10 weeks, each one bringing new themes, updates, and content to the game. These seasons are organized into chapters which contain anywhere from four to 10 seasons. When it was announced that the latest season, which was set to release on Nov. 3, would include the layout, themes, and content from the very first generations of Fortnite—including fan-favorite additions from other eras of the game—millions worldwide were preparing themselves for battle.
While past seasons were greeted with much enthusiasm, no amount of anticipation could match that of this season. Many of those who devoted their weekend to grinding the game did not do so alone. Fortnite‘s dual gameplay mode, often just called “duos,” offers the opportunity for friends to link up in twos and compete against other teams. While it is easy to get frustrated, competing alongside friends provides a shoulder to lean on in high-stakes moments. The joint-effort structure and symbiotic teamwork that the specific method of play involves only further encourage the brothership and unity that the seemingly shallow game involves.
“If you lose, it’s a little angering, and teammates will start going against each other. But then, you get back to the lobby, and you’re like, ‘I love you, bro.’ Over time—because you’re always playing with them—you build this great friendship, like brothers,” said Kason, who claims to have spent nearly 40 hours playing Fortnite over the weekend after the new season came out. “[The new season] is really about bonding, and it’s also great to make new friends [while playing].”
On social media, For You pages were filled with teenage boys emotionally captioning an image of their younger selves saying something along the lines of, “He’s playing Fortnite tonight, not me,” implying that the new season of the game would rekindle the same joy that OG Fortnite had brought them years ago. Snapchat stories were full of people posting a screenshot of their first win while playing on the OG map.
On Nov. 4—the first Saturday after the release of the new season—an estimated 44.7 million people were playing, an equivalence to every person living in California and Alabama combined. The game also amassed 102 million hours played on this day, a staggering total congruent to approximately 116 centuries of game time. Among millions of others worldwide, sophomore William Rainey added his fair share of hours to this total.
“[Fortnite] was popular back in the day, many moons ago,” William said. “It 100% had a comeback with the OG season. I’d log onto the game to play, and I’d see over a million people playing. It was a lot like the original chapters where pretty much everyone you knew would play the game. It was crazy.”
The appeal of this season had many beneficial factors, some of which included the reversion back to the game’s primary item shop. For those like William who have played the game since their elementary school days, the opportunity to relive the same gameplay that was once adored brought about much childhood nostalgia.
“[The new update] brought back a lot of things from the old seasons that I really enjoy, like new artillery,” said William, who has been playing Fortnite since he was 11 years old. “There’s a difference between play levels too, because—depending on who you play with—the lobbies are either extremely sweaty or extremely bad. But, overall, I really relive those memories from back in the day when I was a little kid; all those late nights with the boys [are] pretty nostalgic.”
Although the newest season has provided much childhood déjà vu and elation for many, it serves as a solemn reminder that all good things must come to an end. The OG map lived its final day on Dec. 3, closing what was the most successful and record-breaking Fortnite season in history. With over 100 million players dropping in to get their fair share of the game in Nov., Fortnite players all gave a similar bittersweet goodbye to what was a staple in many of their adolescent years. Freshman Ansis Allison was just one of the many contributing to these ludicrous hours of screen time who sadly had to part ways with the OG season once again.
“The OG map has a lot of memories in it,” Ansis said, “especially this season; it was definitely sad when it ended. I just hope [the original season] comes back again. I enjoy playing with all my friends, dancing with them to hype them up, and getting carried by them sometimes.”
Some players claimed that in the final hours of the map, they would conduct a truce between all players where everyone could walk around in peace for one last time, soaking in the wistfulness until it was gone forever. All hope is not lost for these Fortnite fanatics, however. Because of the incredible success of the reintroduction of the original season’s components, it has been confirmed that a similar season to this one will be making a return sometime in 2024.
As the game of Fortnite continues to evolve, the original days still hold a special place in the hearts of many who have grown up on the game. United under the cause to capture a victory, playing alongside both old friends and new confidants has built brotherly bonds that are bound to reach beyond just the virtual world. Win or lose, the impact of the game continues to be tremendous.
“Remember this,” Ansis said. “At the end of the day, even the winners return to the lobby.”
