[GameSpot] - Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2 Start Date, Battle Pass, And More

[343iBot]

Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2 is just days away now, with all the in-game signage telling us that Season 1 will end on March 8. And as is usually the case, Epic is keeping its cards close to the vest for now, having not made any kind of reveals about Season 2 just yet. That said, we've got some clues, both big and small, about what the future has in store for us.

When does Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2 start?

Phrasing in the game says this season will end on March 8, which means the actual last day will be March 9--the stated end date for a season is usually the last full day for every region, with any potential season-ending live event and server downtime occurring the next day, and the start to the new season a day after that.

So if Epic follows normal procedure, Fortnite will go offline for the Season 2 update on March 9, and then Chapter 4 Season 2 will start the morning of March 10.

This date was basically confirmed in the 23.50 update on the page for the Cipher quests in your quests tab. A note on that page reads "A signal has been detected with a looping encrypted message inside that reads 0.3.1.0.2.0.2.3. What could it mean?" It means 3/10/2023, the likely launch date for Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2.

What do we know about Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2?

The most obvious clues this week come from the fourth set of Oathbound story quests. During these quests, Rift Ward Stellan talks about how the Ageless Champion decided to build the Rift Gate near the Citadel at the behest of a "Shapeless Man" who was responsible for the chrome invasion that destroyed the last Fortnite island. Stellan is super worried about this Shapeless Man, who he describes as pursuing a "perfect order" of some kind--this is almost certainly Geno, founder of the Imagined Order, who fell into the Zero Point in Chapter 3 and has clearly evolved pretty significantly. And on top of that, the description of this Shapeless Man also fits that of The Nothing, who was responsible for the chrome invasion that destroyed the last battle royale island. My best guess: They've gotta be the same person.

This is a big development for the overarching plot of Fortnite. Since we defeated the IO back in Chapter 3 Season 2, the island's long-term factions have been out of the picture aside from story quests involving The Scientist in Chapter 3 Season 3, and a pair of cutscenes with The Paradigm in Chapter 3 Season 4. Dialogue from the Bytes quests last season indicated The Nothing has some tie with The Last Reality, but since they and the IO were at war with each other in Chapter 2, it would be hard to believe he's in league with them both. But that would make for a pretty good twist, right?

While there is still another batch of Oathbound quests before the end of the season, as it stands now this Rift Gate is open and active, and we were not able to turn it off because some unknown party is now controlling it and holding it open.

Aside from the IO and Last Reality, we have other old factions apparently in play in Chapter 4 Season 2: the Fox Clan and the Peace Syndicate. Fox Clan members have been in Fortnite forever--Drift, one of the most popular Fortnite skins ever, was added in the Chapter 1 Season 5 Battle Pass. And the popular Crew skin Vi also belonged to the Fox Clan.

The Fox Clan may return to the storyline in a major way soon.

But the Fox Clan, whose members are specifically known for having powers and abilities that harness Rifts ("Drift" is thus a pun), was not referenced as a group until Chapter 2 Season 5, when an unknown enemy nearly wiped them out before Drift, Vi, Catalyst and others brought the group back. It's thought that the ghostly Kondor, hired by the IO, was that enemy, but the Fox Clan story trailed off and didn't end up going anywhere--Epic could retcon their history however they want to.

The Peace Syndicate is a more recent group, first teased in Chapter 3 Season 2 during the war against IO and then the center focus of Season 3, aka the Vibin' season. Evie from the Season 3 battle pass has been our face of the group--Twyn from the Chapter 3 Season 4 battle pass is also a Peace Syndicate member, as is Meowscles.

We don't know what the Fox Clan or the Peace Syndicate have to do with all this just yet, or even if they're good guys or bad ones in this situation--the Peace Syndicate in particular have had sinister undertones since the beginning. But both groups are referenced in the Oathbound quests, both groups are mentioned repeatedly in new text strings that were included with the 23.50 update, and the Fox Clan is the subject of one of those Rift events that are constantly teleporting in around the island.

What skins will be in the Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2 battle pass?

The 23.50 update also added the new Cipher quests, and one of the rewards for these quests has revealed what is likely to be a battle pass skin. The reward in question is a spray called A Distant Roar, which is awarded for completing a number of Cipher quests. This spray shows a cool lizard man wearing a Thriller jacket--a character we've previously seen on a Fortnite outfit survey.

Meet your first Chapter 4 Season 2 battle pass character--well, probably.

If Epic is teasing him in the game like this, you can pretty well expect to see him in your locker in the near future.

The Shapeless Man is himself a possible battle pass skin that folks were actually expecting for this current season--this is very likely the same character that was referred to as The Nothing last season--and so he's also a possibility. It's thought that this pictured skin below will be the Shapeless Man, whenever he actually comes to the forefront.

One more rumor we've got is on the season theme. This season featured a European medieval theme, and popular Fortnite dataminers have been digging up hints that next season will continue the historical theme but with an East Asian inspiration this time, like references to a new named location codenamed "Dojo" and a new "bamboo" area. The Fox Clan's involvement is also one of those hints, since they all wear Japanese Kitsune masks.

For now, that's what we know. But we're oh so close to Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2 now that we should be seeing new hints and teases very soon.

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