Fortnite’s Zero Hour live event drew over 13 million viewers, capping Chapter 6 with a massive showdown against the Dark Presence. Servers rebooted into Chapter 7: Pacific Break, which is a sun soaked West Coast paradise combining deserts, snowy peaks, and 13 fresh POIs. With no more battle bus, players now surf massive waves onto the island, racing to claim landmarks in this vibrant new Battle Royale hub.
But the launch took out some staple modes, Epic vaulted these four, ranked, reload, blitz royale, and OG tying their absence to the story’s Battle Bus explosion by the Dark Voyager. A cheeky disclaimer greets queue attempts: “Boom goes the Battle Bus,” with exact return timers.
Return Schedule
Players see countdowns in game, but here’s the breakdown:
- Blitz Royale: December 4
- Ranked Mode: December 4
- Fortnite Reload: December 4
- Fortnite OG: December 11 (with OG Season 7)
Repair the Bus, Unlock Rewards
Epic’s narrative twist demands action, grind battle bus quests to rebuild it and restore access. Perks? exclusive cosmetics as a thank you. This downtime will focus on numerous BR’s upgrades, like simple building for casuals, wingsuits for aerial scouting.
Fortnite OG "Offline" Playlist Image:
— FireMonkey (@FireMonkey) November 29, 2025
Boom goes the Battle Bus. Just like that, the Dark Voyager severed the ties to Reload, Blitz, and OG. It’ll take hard work to get the Battle Bus back up and running, but the tide’s high and surf’s up in Battle Royale! pic.twitter.com/TDEBRu9Ivl
Community vibes are mixed shock and frustration over the sudden blackout (“No Reload or OG is crazy,” one player vented), but relief it’s temporary. Some speculate it boosts BR player counts early on.
Fortnite just had a shitty season with simpsons and the game was at its worst peak in viewership then they decide it’s a good idea to disable battle ROYALE ranked for the new chapter😭 they actually wanna kill the game
— Web (@Webster1x) November 29, 2025
