According to leaks, Fortnite Chapter 1 will make a “permanent” return to the battle royale

About this time last year, Fortnite experienced its highest player count ever as nostalgic players returned to the battle royale for the mini-OG season that brought back the original Chapter 1 island. Currently, Epic Games is trying to repeat that success with Chapter 2 Remix, another mini-season that includes content from some of the best seasons of the era. However, according to two prominent leakers, the classic Fortnite Chapter 1 content will soon be returning in a big way – and this time for the long haul.

With Call of Duty Warzone planning to bring back its original Verdansk map next year, the new season of Apex Legends bringing players back to the way things were in Season 1, and Fortnite's recent recaps of Chapters 1 and 2 showing, that nostalgia is a valuable commodity in the best battle royale games. However, if what's currently being rumored turns out to be true (and that's very likely given the leakers' track record), then Fortnite will be giving some of its early players a long-term reason to return to the game.

Both “Hypex” and “ShiinaBR” have learned from anonymous sources that all ten seasons of Fortnite Chapter 1 will be returning to the game and will support both the regular experience and Zero Build. The leakers claim that there will be a “completely faithful loot pool” containing only weapons from these squadrons.

Each individual season of Chapter 1 will return monthly, so you can play Chapter 1, Season 1 for a month, Chapter 2, Season 2 for a month, etc. Presumably this also includes any map changes, new weapons, and other content that these seasons have introduced.

The pair also claim that this could be revealed at The Game Awards, which are scheduled to air on Thursday, December 12th. However, Hypex also says it could be announced during “The Finale,” which presumably means the finale of the current Chapter 2 Remix season. Graduation is scheduled for Saturday, November 30th.

The Fortnite Chapter 1 Seasons rollout is expected to begin in December itself. So if these reports are true, you could be playing the earliest season of Fortnite before the end of the year.

Even with leakers as established as Hypex and ShiinaBR, rumors should always be treated with caution – Hypex says the pair can “verify most of it”, but there is always room for changes or information that is far from highlighted. However, neither of them would be brave enough to reveal this without a strong level of confidence – if it's false, they'll have a lot of disappointed Fortnite fans to answer to.

I have to admit that the recent nostalgia obsession with some big multiplayer games has me a little worried – I enjoy these brief moments where we revisit the golden ages of these games, but when old content is reused at a cost I definitely feel uncomfortable creating truly original new experiences. This full revival of Chapter 1 is touted as an integral part of Fortnite, so it should exist as a standalone entity within the game, which I'm more than happy with.

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