All Fortnite Seasons Explained – Complete History

Fortnite’s come a long way since the game launched, becoming an entire platform full of games. It’s still Battle Royale that attracts the most players though and that mode has seen major changes through all Fortnite seasons. We’ve had six full chapters of seasons. Each with their own theme, as well as development for the core gameplay of Fortnite.

What does the timeline look like and what are the biggest innovations across all Fortnite seasons?

All Fortnite Seasons – Full List

Since its release back in 2017, Fortnite had had a lot of seasons! We’ve come a long way now in Chapter 6. These are the ones we’ve seen, their themes, and when they released:

All Fortnite Seasons Detailed

Chapter 1

Season 1

Chapter 1 is where it all started! The first season is a bit rusty. It didn’t have a Battle Pass yet. Or a lot of the core features we expect, but there was a lot of charm to the game. The core idea of the game was electric and shot it to popularity. From here, Fortnite got updates much more frequently and began to become the game we all know.

Season 2

Season 2 is where things got interesting. Gone are the doubled-up POIs, the map begins to get more unique. Then there’s the weapons which started to diversify into a more recognizable form. This is where Fortnite started to accelerate as a cultural force too.

Season 3

The next Fortnite season introduced live events, which has been a game changer. The entire player base tracking something happening live in-game. Out of all Fortnite seasons, this is up there as one of the most influential! It’s been in Fortnite OG too.

Season 4

The new season continued with weapons settling into a more recognizable balance. In terms of skins, we got a superhero theme! Something we’ll see repeated multiple times across all Fortnite seasons.

Season 5

Next up, we had a major change as the map got new biomes. A huge desert was added to the game. This changed the way we got new POIs and introduce a bigger dynamism to the Fortnite map.

Season 6

The dominant memory of Season 6 for most players is likely the cubes! We saw these come down from the sky and create permanent changes. These cubes changed as the season went on, keeping players checking in all the time to see what exactly was going on with them. Movement of the cubes pops up in a few out of all Fortnite seasons.

Season 7

As the Fortnite seasons kept winding on, the game expanded its horizons. On the one hand, adding a major overpowered item which kind of broke the game. A sword that was extremely poorly though out.

Although, it was also a major step forward for Fortnite esports! We started getting events like the Winter Royale. Which was completely ruined by that broken item.

Season 8

This one moved on from Winterfest and into a season based around pirates! It added more mobility to the map with features like cannons. It also brought in new biomes like the volcano and jungle.

Season 9

Season 9 began with a special live event where players chose what to unvault, bringing extra interactivity between the player base and the title’s meta. One of the smaller ones out of all Fortnite seasons, but like most of Season 1 it’s fondly remembered.

Season X (10)

This is where things get a bit dicey. Season X experimented with a ton of different gameplay mechanics. Big overpowered mechs that ruined the meta. A POI where everyone is forced to dance every few minutes. Just a lot of chaos. But it also saw the Fortnite World Cup, a huge esport event that saw players rocket up the list of players with highest earnings. Still Epic’s biggest esports tournament to date.

Season X might have a bit of a mixed legacy, but it’s definitely one of the most influential we’ve ever had. What came next went even further though, establishing that Fortnite could completely reinvent itself.

Chapter 2

Season 1

The biggest change in all Fortnite seasons. Chapter 2 Season 1 was nearly an entirely new game.

A brand-new map. Mostly new weapons. The entire game was refreshed. It was definitely a new Chapter for the game. This season established that Fortnite could abandon its map, loot pool, and just take the best mechanics forward.

It was also an endless season, with only one Fortnite update. But something big was cooking for Season 2.

Season 2

For the next season, we got one of the most popular updates ever. If we’re ranking Fortnite seasons, this might be a lot of people’s top pick. This added so much to the map, introducing concepts like bosses, mythic weapons, and more. It also added a bunch of characters who have become some of the most popular in the game like Midas.

Season 3

This is where Chapter 2 gets a bit weird. Rather than trying to add a whole new city, or other major map changes, Epic went old testament and flooded the place. The entire map was covered in water. It gradually receded as the weeks went on.

It looks quite similar the roadmaps for our mini-seasons, with very regular updates that progress towards an end goal. In hindsight, this might be one of the more impactful out of all Fortnite Seasons we’ve had.

Season 4

This season established something which is a bit more controversial for Fortnite, a full collab season. We got a ton of Marvel skins, POIs, items, the whole season was Marvel. Thankfully, gameplay was decent too. But it did establish that Fortnite could be entirely taken over by a third-party franchise if the circumstances were right.

Season 5

The next season up begins what’s a bit of a lull for Fortnite. It wasn’t bad enough that we saw Fortnite ending, but it had issues. Zero Point was the theme this time, but the overall gameplay was a mixed bag. We had a core mechanic in sand tunnelling that spent most of the season deactivated, lackluster new POIs, and other strange inclusions. However, the core gunplay was stronger here than it would be for a few seasons.

Season 6

The season after, got a bit weird. Officially a Hunters season. We saw collabs in overdrive, but also a ton of mechanics. wildlife, having to craft every weapon. Just a strange change, adding a ton of features which added nothing to the game, bloated gameplay cycles, and made it much less fun.

Most of it didn’t stick around, and it’s still regarded as a low point in the game’s run.

Season 7

After a mess of a Season 5, Chapter 2 returned to form with Season 7. A UFO season, it gave us some strange ideas that often paid off. Like having part of the lobby play a mini-game for loot instead of the early game chest hunt, and flying UFO vehicles!

Season 8

Chapter 2 closed out with Season 8, which just kind of happened quietly. It lacked much of a coherent identity. One of the most forgettable out of all Fortnite seasons.

This season wasn’t bad to play, but it was very dull. In hindsight, it might have been an intentionally quiet season while Fortnite ramped up for a bigger schedule in the coming years.

Chapter 3 – All Fortnite Seasons

Season 1

With the launch of Chapter 3 we again got a brand-new map! Along with the best Fortnite items for mobility ever added in the Spider-Man Webslingers. Most of the loot pool was entirely overhauled too, again showing Fortnite could reinvent itself completely.

Season 2

This is a season that might be remembered for unplanned reasons. To many, it’s when Zero Build made the game come alive again.

Across all Fortnite seasons, we’d seen a major build up in players skill. By this point, builds had become a major separator in the player base. Zero Builds was introduced as a short event originally, but its popularity led to Epic doubling up every game mode from here on out. Both builds, and a gunplay only mode for those who didn’t want to edit and sweat.

The war theme had to be cancelled due to real world events, which left the “resistance” season a bit weird feeling. Between tanks and warship zeppelin though, it was a fun update.

Season 3

Chapter 3 Season 3 represents a bit of a mid-point for the game, where some key players behind the scenes stepped away. Subtitled “Vibin”, this season was a party to close out one era. It’s not the most talked about season, but the chilled-out theming was a fun break over the summer.

Season 4

To close out Chapter 3, we got a season themed around chrome. A new mechanic which was fun… but too often broken. It led to a bit of a disjointed experience. Followed by a poor live event to close the season. Most of the chrome features still aren’t in Creative due to problems too. It still stands out as unique in all Fortnite seasons, but not the best.

Chapter 4 – All Fortnite Seasons

Season 1

With Chapter 3 onwards, Epic switched to a model of new Chapters every four seasons! Which doesn’t give us the most time with that map. Chapter 4 introduced another new batch of weapons and a fresh map.

Season 2

The second season brought in the biggest landing spot Fortnite has ever seen, Mega City. Along with much loved mobility items like the Kinetic Blade.

Season 3

This was a summer season, so you might begin to notice a trend. Out of all Fortnite seasons, these tend to have the biggest problems. This introduced a Jungle biome, with a janky mud mechanic, and a layout that made it a death trap to the now substantial Zero Builds players. What happened? Just like the war season’s horrible timing, Epic making seasons years ahead of time bit them here.

They made a Summer Season that was completely incompatible with the changes made to the game in the interim. Beyond that, there were a lot of bugs. Its trademark item, the kinetic boomerang, was vaulted for the majority of the run.

Plus, Fortnite esports hit a real snag here. Healing environmental items in the jungle meant teams could infinitely trade surge damage. It exploited an issue with the storm mechanics and ruined a lot of competitive tournaments. Overall, Season 3 is often ranked as one of Fortnite’s worst.

Season 4

Lastly, we closed out Chapter 4 with a second heist season! This one was a lot of fun. By now, Fortnite had built up a long history. Which it started actively exploiting for nostalgia, with the best weapons of their day available in special vaults. It set the stage for what was to come next. Where we started to go backwards in the list of all Fortnite seasons.

Fortnite OG

Fortnite returned to Chapter 1 after 4 closed out! For just a month, players could re-experience those early seasons, but with the skills everyone had developed in the intervening years. This is by far one of the most popular periods of the game’s existence. It seemed just the right amount of time had passed to make this an event.

Chapter 5 – All Fortnite Seasons

Season 1

Chapter 5 took us into another new map, this one featured a new less cartoony art style though, which is still controversial with players. It also had a batch of new weapons, including the game changing Flowberry Fizz. A healing item that became the life blood of competitive games thanks to its mobility effects.

Season 2

The next Chapter 5 season was focused on Greek Gods! Theming aside, it had fun new weapons and mechanics. Its biggest contribution overall might be finally finding a third shotgun that worked.

Since the earliest of all Fortnite seasons, Epic had been trying to break out of the Pump or Auto set-up. New additions really stuck around. This season’s Gatekeeper was a game-changer, by far the best shotgun on the map for a lot of players. This season’s overpowered medallions even helped Peterbot and Pollo to victory in the FNCS, beginning an incredible run for the pair that would last until they split in Chapter 6.

Season 3

For Chapter 6 Season 3, we got another unpopular season. It’s summer time, and Fortnite is no longer about guns. Now you drive around in a car, adding attachments to it and never getting out.

It wasn’t well received. After some patches the game did get more playable and the chaos of the car fights was fun for a while. Ultimately a collab item combined with the nitro fists ended up as the defining meta, beating out the customizable vehicles. For players who wanted normal gameplay, Fortnite Reload did launch during this season.

Season 4

To close out Chapter 5, we again got a repeat. This time of Marvel. It’s another full collab season, with a loot pool packed with superhero magical powers. Not to mention a medallion that gave wall hacks.

Fortnite Remix

With Chapter 5 wrapped up, we got a second nostalgia mini-season. This one returned to one o Fortnite’s most popular periods, Chapter 2 Season 2. This time though, the beloved characters were replaced with musical artists like Ice Spice in a month-long advert. All Fortnite seasons have collabs, but this one was particularly weird.

Chapter 6 – All Fortnite Seasons

Chapter 6 Season 1

With Chapter 6 we returned to a brand-new map, and thankfully one that’s art style was much better received than last time. This season was based around Japanese Mythology. It felt like a more back to basics season after what had come recently. A breath of fresh air for many.

Chapter 6 Season 2

For the second Chapter 6 season, we again repeated a theme. This time a third outing for Heists, though technically it was themed around Crime, the gameplay distinction was minor. This season introduced a handful of POIs with special loot that gave a handful of spots on the map an outsized influence on players.

Galactic Battle (Mini Season 1)

Before we got chapter 6 Season 3, we had Galactic Battle! A full Star Wars crossover, but this time just a mini-season. This threw out all the normal weapons for blasters, then cycled in the Star Wars items. It only lasted a month though.

Chapter 6 Season 3

For Chapter 6 Season 3, we’ve returned to the Superhero theme, but this time with more original items. We did get some collabs, like Superman, too. The season even added the ridiculous transformations again.

Chapter 6 Season 4

The latest Fortnite season! This one brought a bug invasion to the island along with bringing back market mechanics and more exotic weapons. Although, it’s also made some changes. After a mis-season update, we lost medallions for the first time in a lot of seasons. Then there’s the high-mobility loot pool we’ve had too. It’s been an interesting mix of items to close out Chapter 6.

FAQ

How Many Seasons are in Fortnite?

There have been 37 seasons in total! Out of all Fortnite seasons, 10 are from Chapter 1, 8 are from Chapter 2. Then the next four chapters have each had four seasons (at least that’s the plan for Chapter 6 too). We’ve also had three different mini seasons which help inflate the count a bit too!

Was There a Season 0 of Fortnite?

Kind of. Fortnite’s first season wasn’t how players know the game. It didn’t have a battle Pass, the map had copy paste POIs, and content was a bit rough. Even the Item Shop worked weird, with players needing to grind XP to buy things.

What Was the Longest Fortnite Season?

The longest Fortnite season to date was Chapter 2 Season 1. It went on forever.
Well, it went on for 127 days, from October 2019 to February 2020. It’s by far the longest season to date. What’s more it was basically static.

Across the entirety of this season, we got one Fortnite update. It added a harpoon gun. That was it. This period is remembered as a particularly weird part of all Fortnite seasons. But as it launched a new Chapter there was a lot to play around with still.

What was the Shortest Fortnite Season?

The shortest Fortnite seasons have been the mini seasons. So far, that’s Galactic Battle, Remix, and OG. They’re all just four weeks long, so tied for the shortest. We’ll be getting another mini season soon with Fortnite X Simpsons, but it’ll probably also be four weeks.