For the bulk of Fortnite’s third season of content, players have watched as the skies over Tilted Towers filled with meteors. In the days leading up to Epic Games’ announcement that season four was around the corner, those showers started to enter the atmosphere and strike the ground across the map. It’s all leading up to something big, but Epic has remained tight-lipped about what the culmination could be.
After the official Fortnite Twitter page posted a teaser for season four, speculation has turned to a superhero-themed season. The tweet (seen below) features a figure that appears to be donning superhero garb and the words “Battle. Adapt. Win.” It could very well be that the meteor showers are a prelude to the rise of heroes and extraterrestrial foe, but how that would play into Fortnite’s 100-player Battle Royale is all conjecture. Aliens would definitely help carry the horror elements of Fortnite's Survive the Storm mode into Battle Royale. Players have theorized that the meteors will either lead to a map where entire sections are missing or destroyed or one that sports pockmarks left by the crashing balls of space rock.
Considering much of the focus of season three and the build-up of season four has been on the meteor showers, it’s likely that the galactic event is directly tied to the emergence of super-powered characters from beyond. They could be intergalactic beings brought to Earth to prevent mass destruction caused by the meteors and alien lifeforms, which is partially supported by a tweet posted on April 25 by the Fortnite page, which depicts an emergency broadcast signal. If season four is all about superheroes and aliens, the end of the world would certainly be a good time for them to emerge.
Another question raised by the inclusion of superheroes is whether the changes will be cosmetic in nature or will have a drastic effect on the core gameplay. Epic has proven that it’s not afraid to craft unusual weaponry, so it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if superpowers and alien technology entered the eclectic arsenal. Some players have shown concern that next season will alter the game entirely, which could alienate much of its fanbase, but it’s unlikely that Epic would completely cut out the core gameplay that millions of players have grown to love. Instead, whatever changes are coming with season four could be posed as a choice, possibly by providing a new set of superhero characters to pick from.
Then again, everything, much like the meteors themselves, could just be a cosmetic change to liven up the battlefield a little bit. We’ll have to wait for Epic to open up a little more about the fourth season of Fortnite to see what’s in store. Season four doesn’t currently have a release date, though Epic promises that it is “Coming Soon.”
