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Fortnite developer Epic Games has delayed the start of Chapter 5, Season 2. While the new Fortnite season still has a March 8 release date, maintenance has been extended by up to 8-hours. Downtime was originally tipped to end at around 11am GMT UK time, but has been extended until around 10pm GMT later this evening. According to Epic Games, the studio encountered an “unexpected issue” during maintenance, and is working to release a fix as quickly as possible
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The news was announced by Epic Games on X, alongside confirmation on the timings for the start of the new season.
“Hey everyone, we encountered an unexpected issue during our maintenance and we need to extend downtime at least 8 additional hours,” reads an Epic tweet.
“We apologise for making everyone wait longer than usual to drop into Chapter 5 Season 2 of Battle Royale. The team is working through this as quickly as possible, and we’ll provide another update when we have more info.”
With Epic extending maintenance by 8-hours and posting the tweet just after 2pm GMT UK time, servers are expected to remain offline until 10pm GMT.
The exact nature of the issue remains a mystery, with the company previously stating that it was “working through some updates during downtime”.
“Dear Mortals and Future Myths, we’re excited to get you into Fortnite Battle Royale Chapter 5 Season 2!” reads an earlier tweet.
“We’re still working through some updates during downtime and will provide more information once our v29.00 downtime has ended. Because of this, downtime will be a few hours longer than usual.”
Titled Myths and Mortals, the new Fortnite season features a Greek Mythology theme.
The new Battle Pass contains Poseiden, Cerberus, Aphrodite, Zeus, Hades, Medusa, Artemes, and Korra skins.
Players will also be able to take advantage of new Mythics, including the Wings of Icarus, which allow users to soar through the sky and divebomb their foes, as well as the Thunderbolt of Zeus.
The chains of Hades showcased in the trailer will join the game later this season.
New map POIs include the Underworld and Olympus, which launch alongside new weapons such as the Huntress DMR, the Gatekeeper Shotgun, the Harbinger SMG and the Warforged Assault Rifle.