Unplayable Periods (Downtime for Updates) are sporadic occurrences in Fortnite where Battle Royale, Save the World, and Creative are rendered unplayable. This is mainly downtime for a new patch, however some events allow you to log in, although it cannot be played and you cannot access the News tab, Battle Pass tab and Item Shop alongside other things. Events that caused Unplayable Periods are from Battle Royale.
Lists of Unplayable Periods[]
This list does not include downtimes for updates, or times when there are server issues but remained online.
| Dates | Duration | Cause | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Blackout | October 13 - October 15, 2019 | 36 hours | The End (Chapter 1) |
| To Be Continued! (Chapter 2: Season 5) | December 1 - December 2, 2020 | 7 hours 40 minutes | The Devourer of Worlds |
| To Be Continued! (Chapter 2: Season 8) | September 12 - September 13, 2021 | 12 hours 43 minutes | Operation: Sky Fire |
| Drift To Artemis | December 3 - December 4, 2021 | 18 hours | The End (Chapter 2) |
| December 29, 2021 | 7 hours | Server issues, several players logged in at once | |
| Update v19.20 | February 1, 2022 | 3 hours | Server issues, several players logged in at once |
| Update v20.00 | March 20, 2022 | 7 hours | Server issues |
| To Be Continued! (Chapter 3: Season 3) | June 4 - June 5, 2022 | 13 hours | Collision |
| Update v22.10 | October 3 - October 4, 2022 | 12 hours | Server issues |
| Asteria's Gaze | December 3 - December 4, 2022 | 9 hours | Fracture |
| Reality Rebirth | December 2 - December 3, 2023 | 11 hours | The Big Bang |
| Update v29.00 | March 8, 2024 | 19 hours | Server issues |
| Keep Dreaming With Juice WRLD | November 30 - December 1, 2024 | 7 hours | Remix: The Finale |
What happened in these scenarios to make the game unplayable?[]
The Blackout[]
Just before the Blackout occurred, The End event unfolded. The Meteor collided with The Zero Point and the Zero Point began to contain itself, rendering the game unplayable for a total of 36 hours excluding the patch afterwards.
To Be Continued! (Chapter 2: Season 5)[]
Just before the To Be Continued! screen appeared, The Devourer of Worlds event took place. Galactus went through a rift in space to send us into the Countdown for around 8 hours excluding the patch.
To Be Continued! (Chapter 2: Season 8)[]
Just before this version of the To Be Continued! screen appeared, Operation: Sky Fire was in the making. An Abductor was about to hit The Looper but was cut to black right before the impact. The countdown lasted about 13 hours.
Drift To Artemis[]
Just before this version of The Blackout appeared, The End (Chapter 2) Live Event had been active. The Apollo island flipped and the Artemis island was revealed. The impact of the flip caused a tsunami to head towards the location of The Looper and similar to Operation: Skyfire, the screen cut to black right before impact. A screen of the ocean appeared and had the outfit you were wearing at the time floating on a small log as the camera slowly zooms in. This Unplayable Period lasted for around 18 hours, although it was intended to last for around 3 days.
Queue time for Chapter 3: Season 1
Game Queues[]
Queue Times or Game Queues are periods of time where either the main game or launcher is accessible, but the user is softblocked from any actual content. This usually happens whenever Epic Games servers are crowded, or to reduce the influx of players loading into the game at once - which may happen at a time where many players may want to play at once, such as for a Live Event, or the introduction of Chapter 3: Season 1.
December 29th 2021 Unplayable Period[]
This Unplayable Period started with game queues, then Epic Games shutting the servers down at 16:00 UTC. This Unplayable Period lasted about 7 hours until servers went online again on 23:20 UTC. It is most likely caused by many players want to play at once, to open Winterfest 2021 presents. The Crescent Shroom Harvesting Tool was given to all players who played around the time of the downtime for free as a result of the Unplayable Period.
February 1st 2022 Unplayable Period[]
Update v19.20 was released on this day, introducing a new Named Location known as Covert Cavern and the return of the Heavy Shotgun while also introducing Gunnar's Stinger SMG. This made many players log in to the game at once to experience the new update, causing login issues before servers went offline at 21:00 UTC. The Heart's Desire Wrap was given to all players who played around the time of the downtime for free as a result of the Unplayable Period.
March 20th 2022 Unplayable Period[]
Update v20.00 was released on this day, bringing in Chapter 3: Season 2. For roughly 10+ hours, players were stuck in a queue, some up to 3 hours long. Eventually this was fixed.
To Be Continued! (Chapter 3: Season 3)[]
Downtime background
Just before the To Be Continued... screen appeared, Agent Jones and The Foundation were seen gliding in the sky. They then fistbump before the screen fades into the Downtime for the start of Chapter 3: Season 3.
Update v22.10 Downtime[]
This unplayable period started on October 3rd 2022 21:00 UTC because of server issues. As a result downtime for Update v22.10 started much earlier than the intended start time of October 4th 2022 8:00 UTC. The downtime for Update v22.10 is the longest unplayable period that does not involve a Live Event and a transition to a new season/chapter. The Sweat-Free Wrap was given to all players who logged in after the v22.10 downtime ended for free as a result of the Unplayable Period.
Asteria's Gaze (Chapter 4: Season 1)[]
Just before this version of The Blackout appeared, the Fracture live event took place. The Paradigm was heard activating Zero Fusion. The Zero Point then puts the surviving part of the island back together, forming Asteria. This Unplayable Period lasted for around 9 hours.
Reality Rebirth (Chapter 5: Season 1)[]
With all the worlds created out of The Big Bang The Looper is left gazing at four of the main worlds they have visited. LEGO Fortnite, Rocket Racing, Fortnite Festival, and Battle Royale while unable to see the Helios island. This Unplayable Period lasted for around 11 hours.
Update v29.00 Downtime[]
Update 29.00 was released on this day, bringing Chapter 5 Season 2. This unplayable period started on March 8th 2024 08:00 UTC for downtime for a new season. At 14:00 UTC Fortnite Status encountered an unexpected issue and turned off the servers for at least 8 hours. At 21:00 UTC Fortnite Status added another at least 4 hours to the downtime. At 03:00 UTC Fortnite was back online for Chapter 5 Season 2. This is the longest non event downtime period in Fortnite.
Keep Dreaming With Juice WRLD (Chapter 6: Season 1)[]
Late rapper Juice WRLD disappeared into the stars above Apollo after performing in Remix: The Finale. Afterwards, the Looper was evacuated into a wormhole where they rendezvous with Hope and Jones before leaving for another reality. This Unplayable Period lasted for over 7 hours.
To Be Continued! (Chapter 6: Season 3)[]
Just before the To Be Continued... screen appeared, a large piece of Death Star debris hits an active Spirit Realm Portal, causing a shockwave that stuns The Looper.