Fortnite's new 'OG' season is a trip through the game's history

The Fortnite island is changing once again — but this time, it’ll look very familiar to longtime fans. The game just launched its latest season, which has been dubbed “Fortnite OG.” According to developer Epic Games, the game will be regularly updated throughout the season, and “each major update will bring a different phase of battle royale’s past.”

To start, Fortnite OG will be focused on Chapter 1: Season 5. That means the return of Tilted Towers (which was infamously destroyed back in 2019), bringing back classic weapons like the assault rifle, pump shotgun, and hunting rifle and returning vehicles like the shopping cart and the all-terrain kart.

The rest of OG will dig into subsequent chapters. On November 9th, there will be a season 6-themed update (that means quadcrashers and six-shooters), November 16th will tackle seasons 7 and 8 (Stormwing planes and mini-guns), and November 23rd will cover seasons 9 and X (jetpacks and the Baller).

You can find the full list of changes on Epic’s blog, but it sounds like there will be plenty of surprises as well. “Some of the unvaulted gear in each update will remain for that update, be in more than one update, or stay for the rest of Fortnite OG,” the developer says. It also appears that the season will call back to some of the live events that defined that period of the game, like the rolling cube, erupting volcano, or the black hole that ended it all. Based on screenshots, we at least know that the meteor and the cube hovering over Loot Lake will return in some form:

This season is also different in that it is much shorter than usual. Whereas a Fortnite season typically lasts around three months, Fortnite OG will span just four weeks. Because of this, the battle pass — called an OG pass here — will feature 50 unlockable items, half the normal pass, but will still cost the normal 950 V-bucks. (Players will be able to unlock 1,000 V-bucks if they complete the pass, and it remains free for Fortnite Crew subscribers.) Here’s the cast of characters you can unlock — they’re remixes of popular outfits from the game’s history:

Naturally, the in-game shop will also feature what Epic describes as a “curated selections of classic, mashup, and fresh items” to purchase.

The big shake-up comes during a particularly tumultuous period of change for both Fortnite and its developer. The game has seen a shift toward user-created experiences, while also dealing with rising prices, the departure of creative lead Donald Mustard, and major layoffs at Epic Games.