The day has finally arrived–after months and months of leaks and rumors, Fortnite’s Simpsons season launches today. Just not quite yet, because Fortnite is offline for maintenance following the “Welcome, Our Alien Overlords” event, during which players were treated to a Simpsons short film that explained how they ended up being a part of the Fortnite omniverse.
As is standard operating procedure for Epic, Fortnite goes offline when it’s time for a major update. While this usually happens during the middle of the night on a weekday, this season launch is a special event, and as such, it’ll kick off on a Saturday evening. That’s why it’s offline for maintenance now–Epic wants the launch of Fortnite x Simpsons to arrive during primetime on a Saturday night.
When is Fortnite Simpsons season expected to launch?
Epic is planning to bring Fortnite back online for The Simpsons season at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET, though that time is an estimate and not set in stone. In reality, Fortnite maintenance rarely ends on schedule, as it’s simply done when it’s done–which actually often means sooner than expected. Fortnite maintenance usually lasts between four and seven hours, and the planned start time here splits the difference exactly at 5.5 hours of downtime. So don’t be surprised if the season starts a little before or a little after that time.
When the season does start, everything will be different. This Fortnite x Simpsons event is introducing an entirely new cel-shaded map based on Springfield from the series, and it’ll have a Simpsons-themed battle pass and revamped loot pool. This may just be Fortnite’s most thorough collaboration ever. For more on what to expect, check out everything new in Fortnite Simpsons season.
