Fortnite is a battle royale game, but it has a story. It tells this story through changes to the map and secret loading screens. The interesting part is: hardly anyone has noticed this story so far. Everyone has talked about the meteor.
Fortnite actually tells a story: Normally, PvP games do not tell a story. There simply isn’t space for narrative elements, but the gameplay takes center stage. However, Fortnite is different. Here a story is told in the game, but: most players might miss it. It is possible to completely overlook this story. Because the story is told through changes to the map and loading screens in the background of the game.
The meteor was not about gameplay, but about the story
Season 3 started it all: In the last season, these changes occurred subtly. A meteor suddenly appeared, then telescopes were visible at several locations on the map and “emergency messages” flashed across the TVs. The map made it clear: something is happening here, the world of Fortnite is changing and reacting to the meteor in the sky.
This is how players reacted: Players considered these changes as hints about how Epic would change the gameplay. They thought: Fortnite wants to make the Tilted Towers disappear for gameplay reasons and is announcing these changes weeks in advance. Or they thought: This is about the “theme” in the season pass, concerning what skins we will get.
This is what Fortnite meant: Indeed, players were partly right. Because the meteor had effects on the map and “superheroes” also became the theme of the battle pass, but: Fortnite started telling a story that runs in the background of the game two months ago.
Secret loading screens tell of supervillains and superheroes
Season 4 tells the story through map changes: By now, the meteor has crashed into Dusty Depot and a government organization has begun to investigate the meteor. In week 2, the camp got larger, and in week 3, government troops started loading parts of the meteor into vans. Epic unfolds the story through changes to the map week by week. But: that is not all.
The secret loading screens also tell the story: Additionally, players receive “loading screens” this season when they complete all challenges in a week. These loading screens also seem to tell a cohesive story:
- In the first screen, you see film footage for a science fiction movie, while in the background a meteor apparently crashes into the prison.
- In the second screenshot, you suspect you see the supervillain Omega breaking out of prison.
- In the third screenshot, you see a group of superheroes: Steel Sight, Valor, Carbide, and the leader. They are apparently on the trail of the supervillain and want to track him down.
- In the screenshot of the following week, which has already been leaked, you see Omega commanding an army of cyborgs.
For most players, this story still does not play a big role. They are only interested in the loading screens because they can receive a hidden bonus Battle Star through the screens every week. But something big seems to be brewing for “Blockbuster”.
Something is happening in the meteor
Meanwhile, on the map: While the loading screens tell this superhero story, something is also happening on the map:
- Players find a secret hideout of the villain and a superhero villa.
- Additionally, a Luke has appeared, about which we still do not know what will happen.
- And the meteor in Dusty Depot has cooled down. A fissure seems to reveal something metallic.
Maybe what the villain Omega is seeking lies in the meteor. A redditor has already noticed that the trucks into which the meteor pieces are loaded show the same logo as Omega’s robot mercenaries.
Those who now know that Fortnite tells a story will find out in the coming weeks. And the rest will simply keep playing.
Reward as a skin: Fortnite gives players many hints that the story is important this time. While Fortnite in Season 3 had offered the “John Wick” skin as a reward for reaching level 100 in the battle pass, which had nothing to do with Fortnite, this time at level 100 … the Omega skin.
