Fortnitemares returns to Fortnite Battle Royale on Thursday, October 1, 2026, and Five Nights at Freddy's joins it this year, Epic has announced. The event arrives in the last month of Chapter 7 Season 4, Override, whose Battle Pass ends on November 1 (Eastern Time). Here is what Epic has confirmed as of September 30, and what it has not said yet.
Key dates
| Event |
Date |
Time (UTC) |
| Fortnitemares 2026 begins in Battle Royale |
Thursday, October 1, 2026 |
Not announced |
| Update and downtime for Fortnitemares |
Not announced |
Not announced |
| Fortnitemares 2026 ends |
Not announced |
Not announced |
| Override Battle Pass ends (end of Chapter 7 Season 4) |
Sunday, November 1, 2026, Eastern Time |
Not announced; November 1 begins in New York at 04:00 UTC |
| Next season |
Not announced |
Not announced |
What Epic has announced for Fortnitemares 2026
Epic has revealed the event in three steps on Fortnite's official YouTube channel:
- September 24: a teaser, "Fortnitemares is Coming...", with a single line: "OCTOBER 1, 2026".
- September 27: "Five Nights At Freddy's Joins Fortnitemares 2026". Its description reads: "The Fazbear Band has taken over Battle Royale. Face the animatronic animal bosses and survive the night… if you can."
- September 29: the cinematic trailer, with "2 sleeps left!" in its description.
In the game, the news tab gives the same date: "Press start to begin terror! Fortnitemares returns to Battle Royale on October 1."
Creators got a head start. Epic's v42.20 notes of September 17 open with "Prepare to scare — Fortnitemares is coming" and bring new tools for horror islands: an Unarmed weapon with punches and shoves, and a Channel API for custom voice and text channels, with control over who can communicate and when.
That is all that is official so far. Epic has not detailed Fortnitemares quests, rewards, modes or Shop items, nor said when the event ends; last year, Fortnitemares 2025 ran until November 1. We will add the details when Epic publishes them.
When Chapter 7 Season 4 ends
Epic's Battle Pass page says the Override Battle Pass "ends November 1, 2026 Eastern Time". It gives no hour, and no Epic announcement has given one so far; in the game, the Battle Pass shows the time left. No end-of-season live event has been announced, and Epic has not said what comes after Override.
The safe deadline is therefore the start of November 1 in New York, 04:00 UTC. Here is that moment around the world:
| City |
Local date and time |
| Los Angeles |
Saturday, October 31, 9:00 PM |
| New York |
Sunday, November 1, 12:00 AM (midnight) |
| Mexico City |
Saturday, October 31, 10:00 PM |
| Bogotá |
Saturday, October 31, 11:00 PM |
| São Paulo |
Sunday, November 1, 1:00 AM |
| London |
Sunday, November 1, 4:00 AM |
| Paris and Madrid |
Sunday, November 1, 5:00 AM |
Mind the clock changes: Europe turns its clocks back an hour on October 25 and the United States on November 1 at 2 AM, so that night Paris is only five hours ahead of New York. From September 30, that leaves about a month to finish the pass; our Battle Pass guide lists what each outfit takes.
Servers during updates
Epic announces scheduled downtime on its status page, status.epicgames.com, whose Fortnite section tracks login, matchmaking, the Item Shop and Fortnite Crew, among other services. Epic's official Fortnite Status account on X also reports on the servers. On the morning of September 30 (UTC), no downtime was scheduled for October 1 yet, and Epic had not given an update number.
For reference, this is how the season's updates went, according to the status page:
| Update |
Date |
Downtime began (UTC) |
Maintenance completed (UTC) |
| v42.00 (season launch) |
August 20 |
06:00 |
11:31 |
| v42.10 |
September 3 |
08:00 |
10:44 |
| v42.20 |
September 17 |
08:00 |
09:53 |
Each time, Epic posted the notice the evening before and warned that matchmaking would be disabled 30 minutes earlier. If Fortnitemares comes with an update, check the status page on the evening of September 30.
The Item Shop and the map
Epic has not announced any Fortnitemares Shop items yet. Whatever arrives, our daily Item Shop lists every offer with its price and history, rebuilt after each 00:00 UTC reset, and our island map shows the current season's named locations and landmarks. For the rest of Override, from Overrides to Sprites, see our season guide.
