‘Fortnite’ Chapter 2, Season 2 Map Allegedly Leaks Online

Fortnite

Epic/4chan

This eternal season of Fortnite is still almost a month away from being over on February 20, but at least now Epic has explained why that’s happening, as they have said that it’s because they’re implementing the Chaos physics engine into the game which should result in a lot more epic destruction, without changing core gameplay too much.

That news kind of plays into what is allegedly a leak of the upcoming Chapter 2, Season 2 map. This originated on 4chan (via iOllek), so take that as you will, and comes with not just the new map, but two blurry stills from what’s supposed to be the trailer.

Yes, it certainly could be fake. It wouldn’t be the first time. And yet it’s worth examining all the same, and what’s being proposed here could certainly play into what Epic is attempting to do by introducing Chaos physics to the game.

On first glance the two maps look almost identical. So what’s actually different about them? You have to zoom in to understand the concept. First, the idea is that Steamy Stacks has experienced a meltdown and blown up:

Fortnite

Fortnite

Second, it seems possible that either Slurpy Swamp and/or Misty Meadows has been destroyed as well. Possibly from flooding (the dam is over there), but that’s unclear:

Fortnite

Fortnite

The two stills from the trailer show the season 1 battle pass skins reacting to something in horror, but that doesn’t really narrow it down:

Fortnite

Fortnite

Why am I prone to possibly believe this as legitimate? I mean, it does fit with a few concepts. First, blowing up a nuclear power plant does seem like something an evil villain group would do, and that’s really the only “plot thread” that has happened in Chapter 2 so far with the evil organization of skins and alter egos we’ve seen released all season long.

Secondly, destroying a nuclear power plant seems like exactly the sort of thing you’d want to do to debut new Chaos destruction physics in the game. I can imagine the season ending with some sort of “meltdown alarm countdown timer” where everyone gathers to go watch the power plant blow up at the same time. And if Slurpy and Misty are destroyed in some other way as well, we could see a different kind of destruction in action over there (flooding, potentially).

But if this had come out before the Chaos physics announcement I probably would have been more likely to fully believe it. As right now it’s a very blurry map stripped of names and some reaction shots. I probably could have made this in photoshop myself if I really wanted to, and it plays into the Chaos narrative almost too perfectly, just days after the announcement.

And yet, I don’t know who at 4chan these days would even bother with a fake like this as I doubt most of them care. 4chan has been the source of plenty of real leaks, so that’s no reason to dismiss it outright. I do think we will see something big destroyed to show off the new Chaos physics, and gathering around to watch a nuclear plant blow up does seem like just the thing. We’ll see in a month, I suppose.

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