In what’s sure to be welcome news to Fortnite fans who’ve been feeling nostalgic for the popular shooter’s past, Epic Games has announced that the game’s first island will be returning on November 3. Confirmation of the original island’s return comes following weeks of rumors from Fortnite leakers stating that the Chapter 1 map would be featured in an upcoming season.
Epic Games reveals that Fortnite’s Chapter 1 map will return to the game on November 3
News of the return of Fortnite’s Chapter 1 map was shared on the game’s official account on X (formerly Twitter.)
The reveal, which hints the new map will likely benefit from changes made to Fortnite’s traversal system over the years, features a photo of the game’s iconic Battle Bus with text urging players to “Sprint (or Mantle, your choice) back to Chapter 1.” While some elements of the map’s layout could potentially feel a bit dated when compared to its successors over the years, thanks to Fortnite’s switch to Unreal Engine 5 in 2022 it’s at least guaranteed to look better than ever.
According to Eurogamer, leaks leading up to the announcement suggest that only parts of the iconic map may be returning to the game. Based on claims from Fortnite leakers, it reports that the Chapter 1 map may be returning to the game as the result of a time machine mishap by the current season’s villain, Kado Thorne. This end-of-season event would see parts of the map returning, with further changes being introduced over the subsequent weeks until the debut of a new Island map in December to mark the start of Fortnite Season 5. At this time, it’s still unknown whether all of Fortnite’s game modes will be available on the revised Chapter 1 map.
The temporary return of the Chapter 1 map marks the biggest change to come to the game since Kratos designer Charlie Wen joined Epic Games as Chief Operating Officer. While Fortnite has received countless updates in the years since its debut in 2017, getting to go back to the map that started it all should serve as a blast from the past for longtime players. And, since Fortnite is one of the games included in PS5 cloud streaming, PS Plus Premium members hoping to fight their way through the classic map will be able to do so without clearing out space on their console.
