Is Fortnite down? Server downtime schedule and what's new in the last-minute Reload hotfix

Fortnite is about to launch into a new bout of downtime to welcome in a new hotfix and Reload map, and thankfully, we won't have long to wait before we're back in and making a mess on the Slurp Rush island.

is usually pretty good at signposting its downtimes, but man, something must have changed recently. Of course, was expected, but brought the reveal of its downtime pretty far up to the wire with leakers struggling to keep up, and even though the content of Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 2 was bustling, it at least introduced a heap of points of interest.

It looks like we’re about to plunge into Fortnite downtime once again though, and though it hasn’t been particularly well signposted, it’s expected to be a short bout of server deactivations for a very good cause, especially for fans of -inspired small-map chaos. Here’s what you need to know about the ongoing Fortnite downtime.

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Is Fortnite down?

Fortnite downtime will begin at 3am PDT / 6am EDT / 11am BST on Tuesday, April 15. This news has been revealed by the

We'll be taking a short downtime tomorrow at 6 AM ET while we deploy a hotfix.

Matchmaking will be disabled 30 minutes prior. pic.twitter.com/ts5AZt6ot0

— Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) April 14, 2025

account on Twitter. Gameplay will be closed off 30 minutes before the downtime begins so that players can finish their active games. The server is expected to be down for about an hour according to the , but recently its updates have overstepped this, so we'll have to wait to see what comes of the incoming downtime.

What’s new in the new Fortnite update?

There actually isn’t much to speak of when it comes to this update, with leaker

DOWNTIME STARTS AT 6AM ET 🔥

Fortnite said the downtime is only used to publish a new hotfix, so there will be zero new cosmetics in this update!

It's also NOT expected that Fortnite will do the big unban wave during this downtime. pic.twitter.com/ERsQatV2Bo

— Shiina (@ShiinaBR) April 14, 2025

speculating that we won’t see any new cosmetics in the flash update. Instead, it’s designed to fire out a hotfix targeting existing issues in the game, though Epic Games hasn’t specified what it’s going after.

Luckily for players, though, on the other side of the downtime will be the new Fortnite Reload map titled Slurp Rush, which seems to be offering shields everywhere players turn. It certainly makes a difference from Fortnite OG, which only recently reintroduced small pots.

The downtime doesn’t offer an awful lot to players across the entire ecosystem of games tucked away in the launcher, but then again, the Fortnite downtime isn’t expected to last long anyway. Thank goodness for that, eh?