‘Fortnite’ Map Rumor: Is Epic Games Really Going to Revert to Its OG Island Map?

Devoted fans of any long-running game franchise are almost always going to freak out whenever they see that a major component of the game that they love playing has been changed. Heck, people throw hissy fits whenever a character's costume changes or a design aspect undergoes the slightest of alterations.

So you can only imagine how Fortnite fans felt when the game's map went through several overhauls with many people asking: Is the old map coming back. Ever?

Epic Games' cash cow has undergone a tremendous number of changes ever since it debuted back in 2017. From new weapons, game modes, rules, the introduction of vehicles, in-game concerts, cross-over events, movie release information ... You name it, Fortnite has done it.

The in-game island itself has gone through a ton of changes too, and OG players have been pining for the days of the original map layout.

In fact, folks have been calling for it ever since the introduction of season 2, and it seems like every single time a new update is on the horizon, a new slew of rumors emerge that Epic's going to return the map to its original state, or at least bring back classic locations like Tilted Towers.

But now with the release of Season 8, it looks like there may be some credence to the long-churning speculations that Epic will bring the game's original map back into the hands of players.

And while people hardly play Fortnite for the game's storyline, developers will have to come up with a clever reason for the map's return. Many folks are convinced that the impending alien invasion will have a lot to do with it.

So where's the "proof" for this rumored re-introduction of the season 1 map? Well, whip out the tin foil and put your hat-making skills to work. If you recall, it was revealed during an unvaulting event that the Season 1 map had a huge metal mainframe at its center. Folks have noticed that the alien mothership hovering over the island actually looks strikingly similar to this mainframe surrounding the Season 1 map.

The Zero Point — which was located smack dab in the middle of the island, and which ended up becoming a pivotal part of Fortnite Chapter 2's sequence of events — has also been recently added to Google Maps IRL. While some fans of the game are speculating that this is Epic's doing as a sort of "Easter egg" to give fans of what's coming, others have pointed out that pretty much anyone in the world can add almost whatever they want to Google Maps.

If you've been playing the game for a minute, then you may remember going underneath the game's map in order to bust out particular weapons from the vaults that lay beneath its surface. The alien mothership also holds vaulted POIs straight out of Chapter 1. So if Epic's going to bring the season 1 map back, now is probably the time to do it.

Of course, at the end of the day, this is all speculation. But it's hard to ignore that there are a ton of similarities between the mothership and the old map structure.

Do you think Epic's going to bring the OG map back? Or are Fortnite fans just getting ahead of themselves?