Fortnite down: When will servers be back up for Chapter 5 Season 2?

Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 is releasing today, but there's going to be some server downtime first

Update @ 3:52pm ET: The Fortnite Status Twitter account has announced that the downtime is going to be extended by a further five hours, meaning that Fortnite won't be playable again until at least 8pm ET tonight.

Original article: A new Fortnite season is very nearly here, which is always an exciting time for the community. Chapter 5 Season 2, also known as Fortnite Myths & Mortals brings the gods of Ancient Greece to the battle royale with a vengeance, as well as a lot of cool-looking magical weapons.

We'll explain when the servers are set to go offline, and when you can expect to start playing again.

Why are Fortnite servers down?

Fortnite server downtime is a regular occurrence for these major updates / Epic Games

As with all regular Fortnite updates, the servers go down so the team can install the new updates and make sure everything is running smoothly on the servers. The new content can’t be installed while so many players are still online and trying to play games, so the team switches them off for a couple of hours to get the job done.

As officially announced by Epic, the Fortnite servers will be going offline on March 8, 2024, at 12am PT / 3am ET / 8am GMT / 9am CET.

How long is Fortnite downtime?

Fortnite Myths & Mortals looks to be a chaotic season, with a lot of cool new features / Epic Games

When everything is running smoothly, the Fortnite servers are only down for three to four hours. It can vary slightly depending on how much content is in the patch. However, based on past updates, you can reasonably expect Fortnite servers will be back up by 4am PT / 7am ET / 12pm GMT / 1pm CET.

However, things can always change, and there may be delays in this process which means we all have to wait a little longer. The best place to check is Fortnite Status on Twitter, as they’ll make a post about any delays, or notify you once the servers are back online with the game's latest content.