Fortnite's original map will make a return next week

Fortnite's original map is coming back, Epic have confirmed. The news was announced via X (formerly Twitter) weeks after several leaks had suggested that time travel shenanigans would revert the free-to-play shooter's map back to its original Chapter 1 layout.

"Sprint (or Mantle, your choice) back to Chapter 1....see you soon 11.3.2023", reads the tweet. The reference to mantling suggests that Fortnite will retain its more modern movement mechanics even as the world around you returns to its earliest form.

Fortnite leakers had been proposing that this was going to happen since early October. An image shared online on October 10th also showed Kado Thorne, the villain of the current Fortnite season, standing in front of a machine showing the numbers "2018 07 12". That's the date that season five of Chapter One launched, adding a desert biome and other new locations to the original Fortnite map.

I've never been a Fortnite player, but I've played enough live service games to understand the appeal of an old version - whether map or mode - returning for another go around the content carousel. Fortnite's chapter five will kick off on November 3rd.

Fortnite makers Epic have in the past several weeks laid off 830 people across their many studios. At the time, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said that Fortnite was "starting to grow again", but that the growth was due to "creator content with signficant revenue sharing".

Epic also sold off the wonderful music service Bandcamp, which they had only recently acquired. Bandcamp has since had its own round of layoffs.