'Fortnite' Has Been Replaced With a Black Hole — Here's What It Means

Fortnite warned its players that "The End" was coming, and boy, did it come. In the event to end Season 10, players logged on to watch the beloved map that they've played for the last two years get sucked up in a black hole. When the event happened, everyone thought it was just the prelude to the introduction of a brand new map, but even after the event, Fortnite has been inaccessible to all of its players. 

In place of the game, there is nothing but a live stream of a black hole. You can't log in or start a new game, even if you wanted to play on the old map. This black hole has been streaming since "The End" event on Oct. 13, occasionally spouting mysterious numbers on the screen. But no matter what you do, you can't access the game. 

"The End" event showcased the send-off of The Visitor, sparking a flurry of rockets and asteroids to come crashing down on the map. After the destruction of the map, all landscape and players were sucked into the black hole, leaving nothing behind but the orb in the center of the screen. 

The intent of the cryptic image is unclear. It's likely that developers at Epic Games are using the stream of the black hole to implement the new map that's been rumored, making a more seamless transition into the new chapter of Fortnite.

This would make the most sense, as most large updates to video games usually come with glitches that frustrate players. Keeping users off the servers while implementing the new map allows for more time for any kinks to be worked out. 

The developers could also be doing this for the dramatic effect. Since the event, their social media sites have gone dark, deleting all of the tweets from their Twitter and only showing the stream of the black hole.

Their website also seems to be taken over by this black hole, leaving many to wonder when — and if — the game will be back.

Of course we're all waiting for when we can log back on and play again, so fans have been speculating since the appearance of the black hole when we'll be able to access Season 11. According to leaker Lucas7Yoshi, who of course decided to take a look at the code for the Fortnite website, found that the code suggested that the event would end on Oct. 15. 

Fortnite star Ninja also released a video giving everyone a hint as to when the game would be back. The hint? A video where he just whispered the word "tacos." We're assuming he means Taco Tuesday.

You can also place a bet for when the game is coming back (crazy, right?). Right now there's an 8/1 chance that the game will be back on Oct. 15, and the odds are even on Thursday, Oct. 17. Why? Because Thursdays are the normal "reset" days for the game, leaving some to believe it'll be a few more days before users can log back on.