Saturday’s rocket launch seems to be the start of a larger mystery unfolding in Fortnite. After the events of the weekend, dimensional rifts have appeared all across the map — including a larger tear overlooking everything down below. Not only are these rifts getting bigger, they’re also starting to have an effect on the island. The subtle spread is easy to miss, but players like Reddit user Discount_Pringles are already compiling pictures that show how the rifts are progressing: The growth by itself isn’t particularly exciting; last season’s comet event also had a slow progression. What’s curious is that the smaller rifts near specific locales appear to be changing the things around them. A couple of days ago, the area around Lonely Lodge had its usual sign near the front of the cabin: A portal/rift of some sort has appeared at the entrance of Lonely Lodge... pic.twitter.com/2Twma3GVBL — Fortnite News • FortniteINTEL.com (@FortniteBR) June 30, 2018 If you log in today, though, there’s no sign. Where did it go? A rift near Anarchy Acres has started to destroy the motel sign there as well: Nobody knows what any of this means, but the theories out there are wild. One of the most popular ideas floating around is that the portals will involve time travel of some sort. Data miners such as GameCentral_FBR are claiming that the game has updated to have 3D models of the Wild West. Coincidentally, the now-deleted official trailer for Fortnite’s upcoming playground mode also appeared to show an old-timey Wild West scene. * LEAK * The Time Travelers will bring us back in time! I present to you "WILD WEST" (I can't show every item since there is more than 200) pic.twitter.com/LoCsZXAzpV — Cross - Fortnite Leaks ボ (@GameCentral_FBR) June 28, 2018 Another data miner, Fortisen, has found a number of props from varying time periods as well: The portals will possibly continue appearing from Lonely Lodge to these locations, some models aren’t in-game and will soon be pic.twitter.com/MaHXnrHuu7 — Fortrise leaks (@fortrisen) June 30, 2018 These could be completely unrelated — perhaps the LTM will simply give players more types of objects to mess around with. Players are leaning toward some sort of time travel theory, however, partially because of a skin introduced this season. Called “The Visitor,” it is an outfit of a robotic-looking character that doesn’t look like anyone else in the game. As the rocket launch last weekend was followed up with a spaceship zipping across the map that seemed to create the phenomena, players believe the Visitor might have somehow caused a rift in the space-time continuum. Whatever this means, Fortnite has continued to maintain the enormous momentum introduced by last season’s comet, as most players are thrilled to try to solve the newest mystery.<doc-sep>The changing of Battle Pass seasons in Fortnite: Battle Royale is a big deal, and the introduction of Season 5 on Thursday may be the most highly anticipated yet, thanks to a one-time event — featuring a rocket launch and "rifts" in the space-time continuum — that marked the end of Season 4 and predicted an entirely new game mechanic. When the rocket embedded into the side of the mountain just northeast of Snobby Shores launched into the sky on June 30, a series of cracks in the sky seemed to act as portals, eventually swallowing up the rocket. These cracks were immediately dubbed "rifts," and became a constant, mysterious presence on the island, causing beloved landmarks to disappear and occasionally spitting out foreign-looking objects — presumably from another universe — giving rise to the "Worlds Collide" theme. When Season 5 went live Thursday, Fortnite players found that they could now interact with the rifts for the first time, offering a whole new mechanic to the otherwise consistent battle royale-style game. Here's how to find and use the rifts in Fortnite:<doc-sep>
The rocket has brought some big changes to the ever-evolving world of Fortnite. Today marks the fifth season for the battle royale game, which follows a one-time rocket launch event that added a huge crack in the sky and plenty of unfolding mysteries to solve. The big changes in season 5 include the addition of four-person golf carts, the first proper vehicles in the game, following the shopping carts from last season. (And given the game’s history with vehicles, we anticipate some issues this time around.) As for those rifts that appear all over the map, they’re now interactive. Jump in one, and it’ll teleport you to a different point on the map where you can parachute back down to the ground. There are also some changes to the map itself. Moisty Mire has been replaced entirely and is now a desert outpost region, while a golf course has also been added. Meanwhile — in keeping with the time travel theme — there are now ancient objects littered across the map, including statues and a Viking ship. Here’s what the map looks like right now: The new season also means a new battle pass, which includes new unlockables and challenges and, uh, the option to play golf or basketball with friends. There are a handful of other miscellaneous updates to glean from the patch notes as well. The Nintendo Switch version of the game now supports gyro controls, and for those who play the “save the world” co-op mode, there’s a new Western-themed storyline. You can check out the full details from Epic Games, though there will likely be plenty of other secrets to come once players dig into the new update.