Epic Games has finally announced the Fortnite Season 8 release date. Arriving later this month, players will be able to experience the latest season of battle royale, including a brand new live event that will be happening alongside it. 

It has been quite a long time since we have had a season-ending event that was not just there for everyone to do whenever, but a live event that only happens once. However, that is what is happening with the Season 7 ending event known as Operation Sky Fire. 

This is the final operation for the season that Dr. Slone is planning to end the invasion from the aliens this season. It is all coming to a head with the alien mothership now setting its sights on the IO’s not-that-secret base held underneath the barn at Corny Complex. 

The Operation Sky Fire event will be a live one that will only happen once. There will be no replays of the event. You will not be able to play it upon logging into the game next, like what happened with the last season-ending event. 

Operation Sky Fire will take flight on Sunday, September 12, at around 1 p.m. PT. This is a first for the battle royale game as Epic Games is usually there to ensure that a season-ending live event is sometime during the middle of the week at around that same time, which is usually met with disdain from players who have school or work in the week. 

So, at the very least, it is happening at a decent time in the middle of the day on a Sunday, which is great for players who would not want to miss out on it, but this is still going to be a quite controversial decision on Epic Games’ part. In all honesty, the developer is taking a step backward in a way. 

In the past, the last season-ending event for the Nexus was something that every player could play whenever they logged into the game next for the new season without showing up at a particular time. This was a wonderful way of handling live events. 

No one had to miss out on the event since they could play it at their leisure. Furthermore, the Ariana Grande concert live event was more traditional because you had to be there at certain times. Still, at least Epic had plenty of showings over several days for players to join. 

So, even if you missed out on one, you were able to see it on any of the other days. To have Operation Sky Fire live and only once means that if you are busy that day for whatever reason, you will have to watch the live event online and never get the chance to play it yourself. 

With the poor decision regarding Operation Sky Fire aside, the announcement of this live event for the end of Season 7 also gives us the Fortnite Season 8 release date. Though Epic does not directly reveal it, we can infer the actual release date based on this info. 

Without a doubt, the conclusion of Season 7 on September 12 at around 1 pm PT tells us that the Fortnite Season 8 release date is likely set for around that same time. Typically, a season-ending event will result in the game going into downtime for the new season patch. 

That tells us that there are a couple of options for the Fortnite Season 8 release date. If Epic handles it smoothly, we could have downtime before the event to make way for the new season. Players could download the new patch ahead of time.

If this happens, we could see a smooth transition from the end of the Operation Sky Fire event into the new season, making this event time be right around the same time as the Fortnite Season 8 release date, too.

However, if this is not done ahead of time, this could mean that the battle royale title will go into server maintenance after this event ahead of the new season launch. If that were the case, we would expect the Fortnite Season 8 release date to be around midnight that night or early in the morning on September 13. 

We could even see a Black Hole situation where the game is just offline until Tuesday, September 14, as that day of the week is usually when a new season begins each time. For now, though, we will have to wait and see, but we are less than two weeks away from the new season no matter what. 

In the meantime, while we wait for the Fortnite Season 8 release date to arrive, here is what we expect from the Operation Sky Fire live event and the new season as a whole. We know about this event thus far that the aliens know where the IO base is and are gunning for it. 

On the other hand, Dr. Slone has tasked players with joining a strike team and boarding the mothership to send a final message to the aliens. Interestingly, players can squad up with a full party of 16 players for this event and you will all join the event together.

The playlist will open about 30 minutes before the event’s start, but we recommend joining around an hour beforehand to make sure you do not miss out on the limited space for it (another issue in itself). What we expect to see happen is the end of the alien invasion in a crazy, explosive way. 

However, this end to the invasion will likely result in something even crazier happening. We imagine that it will open a portal to another dimension for the next season to begin, and one that will be quite different from what we have seen in Fortnite thus far. 

As for what the theme of Season 8 will be, this is currently unknown. A reputable leaker has posted what the new season will be like, so that is our best guess for what could be happening soon. 

If you wish to avoid spoilers, this is your chance to turn away now. Still here? Okay, what we have heard about the new seasonal theme is that Season 8 will feature an “upside down” area of some sort that is similar to the Stranger Things Netflix show.

This could indicate that there is going to be a topsy turvy-like area on the island that is wacky and weird. We could see it have horror elements to it with creepy areas and environments for players to explore. This will likely play into the items and weapons for the event, too. 

We have also heard that there will be monsters that will arrive on the island because of this. They could be the undead again or some brand new monsters that will terrorize players and help you collect resources and weapons from when you take them out. 

In terms of the changes that I want to see happen in the new season of battle royale, the first one is map changes. Sure, Season 7 saw some map changes across the island, but most of it came later in the season. I still feel like it was rather disappointing in the end. 

I would even say that Season 6 was disappointing, but I think the map changes there were slightly better than in Season 7. Hopefully, the lack of map changes in those seasons was to leave room for some major changes to happen in Season 8. 

I want to see at least five new locations at the start of the season to play around with, some new biome areas to explore, and more map changes to come for the season. Places that I think could be changed this season do not matter too much, but I think a few would work. 

Dirty Docks, Craggy Cliffs, Misty Meadows, and Retail Row all stand out as areas that I think could be changed up in the next season that I think have not been touched enough. The option for the fifth and final one could go to Catty Corner or Stealthy Stronghold, the latter of which I would like to see a return to the main named location status. 

Of course, Season 7 established crossover characters from other franchises as a main part of Fortnite battle royale. It seems like almost every single week. At least one new character from a movie, TV show or other video game joined the roster in the season. 

I want to see this continue in Season 8, but it does not have to be to that degree. I would be fine with just one major crossover every couple of weeks, as there is the possibility of having too much of a good thing. 

For crossovers I want to see, I want the rumor of anime crossovers to happen finally, not just Naruto. Having Goku from Dragon Ball would be great, plus some love for the newer anime and manga, too. I think that Deku, Todoroki, Bakugo, and All Might from My Hero Academia would be excellent choices. 

I also think some love for Jujutsu Kaisen or Black Clover would be a solid choice, though the former is already set to have a crossover in PUBG. Beyond anime, I want to see more game crossovers with characters from Final Fantasy, Horizon Forbidden West, Mortal Kombat, Nintendo, and more in the battle pass and item shop. 

Of course, it would not be a new season without some new and returning weapons, and I fully expect Season 8 to continue the insane trend that Season 7 had of introducing tons of new armaments. In terms of returning weapons, there are a couple that I want to see come back. 

The first is the bow from Season 6, which is by far my best weapon ever in Fortnite. I performed the best in that season than I ever have since Fortnite’s launch due to that weapon. It is just not the same without it. I hope that it makes its triumphant return in Season 8 as a permanent addition, and it does not need the upgrades, either. 

The other returning weapon I want is the drum gun to be a permanent member of the roster. None of this back-and-forth where it is in the game then leaves, and then comes back only to be vaulted again shortly after that.

Of course, I do not want just some old weapons to come back, but I want to see new ones, too. I want to see Epic get wild with the guns in the game, giving us some powerful ones that do stuff like set players on fire, freeze or slow them down, teleport them elsewhere, and so on. Season 7 saw some crazy creations and I hope to see that continue in Season 8.