Season 5 has started in Fortnite and with it the return of the map from Chapter 1. A moving moment for the community. So moving that many have decided to revisit the Battle Royale shooter. The visit was so intense that Epic broke its record for player counts.
How did the start of Season 5 go? We at MeinMMO were there live for the start of Season 5 and followed the release of the season. The server downtime began at 8:00 AM and ended at 2:00 PM. After that, there were queues until late at night. If you managed to log in, you were able to enjoy the new map.
During each new season, especially after a major server downtime, there are login problems and queues. However, those of Season 5 had other dimensions, and the reason for this was the enormous player counts. They were so high that even Counter-Strike 2 looks outdated on Steam.
Here we embed the trailer for Season 5 in case you missed it:
Fortnite breaks its record – More popular than CS2
How many players logged in? With the start of Season 5, a new peak, the number of most players simultaneously, was broken. The new record now stands at 5,888,686 players simultaneously (via fortnite.gg). The player counts were recorded here using the program fortnite.gg.
Since Fortnite is multiplatform, it is difficult to determine how many players were actually present at the start. Those who successfully logged in could see how many players were currently in the individual modes, as Epic Games discloses player counts for the individual modes in the menu.
The almost 6 million players therefore seem very plausible. Since the reboot of the “Chapter 1” map also attracts many new and older fans of the franchise, it can be assumed that this is true.
When comparing the numbers with those of the most popular game on Steam, namely CS2, Fortnite is unbeatable. CS2 is currently at an all-time peak of 1,802,853 players simultaneously, according to steamcharts.com. That’s about a third of what Fortnite was able to achieve with Season 5.
How many players are currently in Fortnite? At the time this article was written (as of November 4, 11:29 AM), according to Fortnite itself, around 1.5 million players are in build mode and 336,700 players are in no-build mode, and the trend is rising. By the evening, there should be more, as many players want to log in for a nostalgic round of Battle Royale.
It is fascinating to see how the return of a single map in Fortnite can attract so many players. If it continues, the upcoming live event at the end of Chapter 4 could take on huge proportions.
Until then: what do you think about Epic gaining so many players? Do you still notice bots in your lobbies? Let us know in the comments!
MeinMMO author Christos had an opinion on Season 5, and it concerns the new Battle Pass: Hey Epic – Is the price for the new Battle Pass in Fortnite for real?
