Fortnite Chapter 1

Fortnite was launched in 2017, with Chapter 1. Over the years, it has changed and developed a lot. 

Initially it was just a typical Battle Royal style game. Although it did have unique elements, the most known was the building aspect. 

During Fortnite Chapter 1, the story did however slowly begin to develop and is now very complex. I’ve gotten confused a number of times…

In this article, I wanted to go through the storyline of Chapter 1. Going through everything that had happened and what was the starting point of such an unusual island. 

Chapter 1 Season 1-2: First Steps

Dates: October 24th 2017 – February 22nd 2018

Theme: Season 2 Medieval

In season 1 and 2, Fortnite was still finding its feet. It was one of the first Battle Royale style games. The game itself was pretty basic but since it was so accessible it became very popular. 

There would be limited options when it came to customization and the main goal was to be the last player alive.  

However Chapter 1, Season 3 was just about to start and that would be the beginning of its deep storyline. 

Chapter 1 Season 1 Map

Chapter 1 Season 2 Map

Chapter 1 Season 3

Dates: February 22, 2018 – May 1, 2018

Theme: Space

One of the things that Fortnite has been known for is putting on some incredible live events. Season 3 introduced the first ever live event. 

Season 3 didn’t really introduce too much when it comes to story, however a giant comet in the sky certainly caused a bit of buzz. There were some very interesting theories. 

Chapter 1 Season 3 Map

Chapter 1 Season 4: Brace For Impact

Dates: May 1st, 2018 to July 12th, 2018

Theme: Superheroes/Movies

The Meteor struck Fortnite Island on May the 1st 2018. The impact caused a large amount of damage on Dusty Depot and completely destroyed a Factor. Dusty Depot soon became known as Dusty Divot. 

That’s not all the damage the meteor did, as smaller shards of the comet caused damage to other areas of the map. 

When traveling the chapter 1 season 4 map, you’ll have come across craters near POI’s such as;

• Fatal Fields
• Snobby Shores
• The Motel
• Tilted Towers
• Dirt Track
• Risky Reels

Not only that but new objects known as Hop Rocks were scattered around the island. These were consumables that would give you a low gravity effect. 

All of a sudden research facilities were built at Dusty Divot. These were built by an Unnamed Investigation Agency. 

This facility was surrounding a large rock, which seemed to be the remains of the comet. 

In fact when loopers went to different spots in the map that had craters, they’d spot UIA cars. It became obvious that they were investigating the flowing rocks. 

Even though the Island had just been hit by a comet and a lot of areas destroyed. A movie crew had started filming a movie called Moisty Mire. 

At one end of the Island a Hero mansion was built and on the other end a Villain Lair. Inside the lair was believed to be a prop rocket. 

However was all this a plan of UIA as the rocket turned out to be a real rocket and not a prop. 

People believed the UIA were involved because they had started collecting Hop Rocks and were taking them back to Villain Lair. 

This continued for weeks and nothing seemed to be happening with the rock at Dusty Divot. Until one day when it had opened and inside was some sort of pod or life support. 

Out of the pod came an alien, who was known as The Visitor and one of the members of The Seven. 

No one knows whether the Visitor was working with the UIA or not, but it does seem doubtful. 

He managed to hack into the rocket and even warn loopers when the rocket would be taking off. 

This opened up an island wide event, with a 3 day timer that was counting down to launch day which was the 30th June 2018. 

The rocket took off and went up, although to everyone’s shock it turned around and started plummeting back down. It had positioned itself straight for Tilted Towers. 

It is believed that before the rocket would hit Tilted Towers, The Visitor activated a device and caused a rift to open up. The rocket appeared in another area of the island and then went into another rift. 

The rocket then went up into the sky and opened a giant rift above the entire island. 

Now this begs the question, did the Visitor want to destroy the island or not? 

One theory is that he was simply trying to return home, however the UIA may have taken back control of the rocket and wanted to destroy the island. The Visitor then created the rifts to try and save the island and all of the people on it. 

This giant rift continued to cause problems, as it got larger and started to destabilize. 

Throughout the island, smaller rifts started to open up. Random objects would vanish, as well as new objects appearing. Suddenly dinosaur bones appeared, a Viking ship dropped from the sky and much more…This leading into Season 5. 

Chapter 1 Season 4 Map

Chapter 1 Season 5: Worlds Collide

Dates: July 11, 2018 – September 27, 2018

Theme: Worlds Collide

In Season 5, the rifts left from The Visitor continued to cause problems. Moisty Mire transformed into a desert.

A new POI called Paradise Palms was where the Prison was destroyed. In the mountains a large viking outpost was set up. Lazy Links resort replaced Anarchy Acre and what was Tomato Town soon became Tomato Temple. 

Loopers discovered a new vehicle called the All Terrain Karts that they could drive, as well as take 3 people along with them. 

So the large crack in the sky caused a lot of changes to the Fortnite map. All of a sudden the large crack in the sky started to shoot out lightning. As it did, it continued to get smaller and then before it vanished it shot one last lightening bolt. 

This last lightening bolt created a strange purple CUBE. 

When Loopers would go near the CUBE it would shoot lightning from it. When looking closer it had strange runes on the surface. 

All of a sudden the CUBE began to move around the map. It soon got given the nickname Kevin the CUBE. 

Kevin the CUBE seemed to be heading to a specific place, but its destination was unclear. There were 7 places on the map where it had stopped, each place seemed to have runes on the ground. 

In these zones there seemed to be low gravity. 

In the last week of season 5, Kevin the CUBE would make his way to his final destination. The CUBE entered Loot Lake and eventually dissolved into the water…But why? We’re going to find out soon enough…

Chapter 1 Season 5 Map

Chapter 1 Season 6: Darkness Rises

Dates: September 27, 2018 – December 5, 2018

Theme: Darkness/Corruption

Season 6 the Darkness Rises see’s Kevin the CUBE returned and caused an island at Loot Lake to float up into the sky. 

In the space where the island had been was now just a strange hole that could not be entered. The water from what was known as Loot Lake would drip into the hole. 

Remember the seven runes that Kevin the CUBE had left whilst he traveled the map? These blew up and caused those areas to become Corrupted. 

Just like the CUBE did previously, the floating island traveled to the Corrupted Areas. Once there, it absorbs the power. 

After a couple of weeks, the 7 corrupted areas did the same thing as the island and floated upwards. All of the floating islands made their way to the CUBE floating island that is positioned at the middle of the Fortnite map. 

Eventually the CUBE island returned to where it had originated from (Loot Lake). Once it reached the Lake, a portal formed in the sky again. The CUBE caused an explosion and this caused the island to split. 

All of a sudden Obelisks that were the same purple as the CUBE appeared. These Obelisks seemed to be summoning CUBE Monsters. 

This continued until November the 4th, when Kevin the CUBE began to spin, as it did it got brighter and brighter until it finally exploded. As it was doing this a part of the cube fell into the hole at what was called Loot Lake. 

Once it had exploded everyone was sent to the Inbetween or also known as The Nexus. This is the first time players would find themselves here, it won’t be the last time. 

We see a silver butterfly flying around, which looks very much like a rift. It continues to fly around and then as it comes close, we touch it and see ourselves falling back down to the island.

The hole at Loot Lake had been filled and all that remained were some parts of Kevin the CUBE. 

Everything seemed back to normal, that was until a Parachute was found at Flush Factory. Which had an unusual logo on it of a camera lens and a globe. 

We would then find a robot scouting the island called A.I.M, and then in the distance we could see an iceberg heading towards the island…

What was in store for Chapter 1, Season 7?

Chapter 1 Season 6 Map

Chapter 1 Season 7: You Better Watch Out

Dates: December 5, 2018 – February 28, 2019

Theme: Winter

Winter is coming, okay wrong universe but it’s still true…

Season 7 started on the 6th of December 2018 and with it came a lot of snow. At the end of season 6, we saw an iceberg in the distance. Now it’s hit in the southwest, covering Flush Factory and Greasy Grove in snow and ice! 

With it, we saw some snowy POI’s added to the map;

• Happy Hamlet
• Frosty Flights
• Polar Park

Throughout the island, there were Expedition outposts, showing that people are traveling to this new Biome. 

Over the coming weeks, due to the island’s temperature the snow began to melt. Once the snow had thawed at Polar Peak, there was a town with a castle. 

Inside the castle we’d find the Ice King himself, who happened to also be containing a Prisoner. 

The Ice King was however not a very nice person and sought power. He wanted the power of the CUBE and to take over the entire island. 

As mentioned, the Ice King held a Prisoner. He was kept secure in the center of the iceberg. However, as we know the ice is starting to melt..

On January 15th, we saw the Ice Storm Event. During this event the Ice King absorbed the power of a part of the CUBE. This power allowed him to cover the entire island in snow. 

Although he didn’t just create snow. There were also snow obelisks and out of these came CUBE monsters that were also made of snow.  

I’m not a fan of the snow biomes, and neither is the prisoner…

Luckily he managed to escape and found himself in the Wailing Woods. Where he stayed to recover his power. As he did the snow began to melt. The grass and trees began to appear again in the Wailing Woods. 

Snow in other areas such as the Lonely Lodge, The Block and Tomato Temple began to melt. 

Now that the prisoner’s strength had started to return, he sought to reclaim his true identity and get his revenge on the Ice King.

After performing a ritual, he was once again the Fire King. It was now time to fight the Ice King and take the island for himself. 

The fight between the two elemental kings caused Earthquakes across the island. These quakes caused great cracks to form across the island. The Fire King managed to over-power and defeat the Ice King. 

Even though this marked the end of Season 7, there was certainly more to come in Season 8. 

Chapter 1 Season 7 Map

Chapter 1 Season 8: X Marks The Spot

Dates: February 28, 2019 – May 9, 2019

Theme: Adventure/Pirates

Season 7 ended with the Fire King (The Prisoner) performing a ritual to bring back his power. 

We’re now in Season 8 and it started off with the Fire King destroying Lazy Links and the Wailing Woods. 

In the place of the Wailing Woods, he created a Large Volcano surrounded by a jungle. He then turned Lazy Links into a Lagoon. This Lagoon was soon overrun with Pirates and was soon renamed to Lazy Lagoon. 

Season 8 introduced the new vehicle, Ballers. These glass balls allowed players to get around the island a lot quicker. 

Not only that but we see a familiar group of people return, The Unknown Investigation Agency. 

The UIA have been spotted digging up certain areas of the map. In fact they had created 4 different dig sites. 

If you traveled to the west of Paradise Palms, you’ll find the first dig site. Around this dig site were a number of Volcano vents and a large hole that was full of skulls. 

Dusty Divot has seen a lot of changes and faced another one. The UIA has dug up an area of the research facility. Although they had not dug up much, as the whole was just filled with lava. 

Another excavation site was at the east of Loot Lake. By visiting this site you’ll find a stash of coins, hidden under a large sheet of metal. 

This metal obviously got the attention of UIA as they’ve got another dig site at the center of Loot Lake. They possibly dug up here due to past events. 

By digging up here, they located a Vault. Since they discovered the Vault, the UIA created a base. 

This led to the players taking part in the Unvaulting Live Event. After completing tasks to send 5 runes to the vault, it soon opened and allowed players to enter. 

Once inside, it was soon discovered that the vault was an entrance to the inbetween. Here the players could pick an item to be unvaulted, It was the drum gun that was chosen to be available again. 

When the players picked an item, it caused the Volcano to erupt and destroy several POI’s on the map.

Luckily the Zero Point was also found inside of the Vault, which ended up saving the island from the eruption of the Volcano. 

That marked the end of Season 8. 

Chapter 1 Season 8 Map

Chapter 1 Season 9: The Future Is Yours

Dates: May 9, 2019 – August 1, 2019

Theme: The Future

Season 9 had a couple of changes to the map, as we enter the future. There’s been a lot of technical advancements compared to previous map changes. 

In Season 8, Tilted Towers was destroyed. This was replaced with Neo Tilted in Season 9. With this new town came Mechas, which had split opinions. Some liked them and others simply hated them. 

A new feature that many people enjoyed were the slipstreams. These were basically streams that players could enter and zoom around the map. They even made an appearance in Chapter 3. 

Towards the end of Season 9, we saw the Devourer. A giant monster that was held in the ice by the Ice King. As this thawed, he was released. The players first saw his eye as he was trapped, an eye that would seem to follow them. 

Eventually when he freed himself, he would attack a number of POI’s.

This introduced the Final Showdown live event.

To stop the Devourer, the Mecha Team Leader would battle him in a giant Mecha suit. 

In order to win the battle the Mecha Team Leader needed to do something drastic to get the needed power. 

They smashed open the vault and took out the Zero Point and absorbed it. They then used Neo Tilted’s hidden sword and killed the Devourer. 

However the Zero Point had too much power and ended up exploding. 

This transformed the Fortnite Map back to the non futuristic version.

Chapter 1 Season 9 Map

Chapter 1 Season X: Out of Time

And now we’re onto the final season of Chapter 1 and it ended with a lot of attention and confusion from the players. 

As we know from Season 9, the Zero Point blew up. This caused time to revert back to a previous time, in fact it turned time back to before the Meteor hit in Season 3. 

Certain POI’s had changed back because the impact had not happened. 

• Dustry Divot was once again Dusty Depot 
• Dusty Diner was now the Factory

However the Meteor was still here, in fact it was frozen in the sky just moments before it was due to hit the island. 

The UIA were back and this time they developed something known as B.R.U.T.E. That’s not all, as players would battle, they’d drop Mechs from the sky. No doubt in preparation for what was to come. 

If you remember in Season 3, the Meteor had a pod in it. Inside that was the Visitor. Well it seems that he had decided to return once again, this time taking refuge at the Dust Depot. 

Here he would create a device known as the Rift Beacon. The visitor used this device 8 times in total and each time, it would change a POI. 

• Neo Tiled became Tilted Town
• Mega Mall became Retail Row – CUBE monsters also spawned here
• The Stadium blew up and all consumables became glitchy 
• Pueblo and Trucker’s Oasis became Pandora 
• Fatal Fields became a version of the floating island
• Greasy Grove was transformed into an alternative version of it
• Paradise Palms became Moisty Palms. 
• Tilted Town was transformed into Gotham city – Which even featured Batman’s cape
• Depot Race Track was transformed to Starry Suburbs

With each use of the Rift device, cracks formed in the sky. The Visitor then used the beacon and the B.R.U.T.E tech to create a rocket. 

The cracks in the rift allowed the Visitor to work alongside seven different versions of himself to put his plan into motion. The island was in some form of time loop and he wanted to end it. 

The Visitor entered one of the rifts and returned through another, 7 more rockets appeared and by doing so created a large rift below the meteor just as it began to start falling towards the island. 

One of the rockets freed the Zero Point and the Meteor appeared through a rift just above the Zero Point at Loot Lake. 

They both collided and with that a massive explosion. 

But what was left would shock everyone. 

A Black Hole in the center and everything started to get sucked into it. 

Eventually there was nothing left, only darkness and that was the end of Fortnite island.

The servers then shut down for 48 hours. 

Chapter 1 Season X Map

FAQ

When Was Chapter 1 In Fortnite?

Fortnite chapter 1 started on October 24th 2017. There was a pre-season which happened on the 16th of September, however that was simply a Battle Royle style game. 

What year did Fortnite Chapter 1 end?

Chapter 1 of Fortnite ended on October 13th, 2019. The last season was number 10 but was called Season X. It ended with the Zero Point colliding with a Meteor and the entire island being sucked into a Black Hole. 

How long did chapter 1 Fortnite last?

Fortnite Chapter 1 lasted for a total of 2 years. In that time there were 10 seasons if we don’t include the pre-season. Chapter 1 had the highest number of seasons, as chapter 2 followed with 8 and Chapter 3 only had 4 seasons.