Fortnite chapter 2 season 5: map changes, Battle Pass, what happened in the Galactus event, and how to get The Mandalorian

The latest massive in-game event has taken place within the world of Fortnite, ushering in the popular Battle Royale game’s next season of content.

Players had been anticipating the arrival of Marvel supervillain Galactus, who was expected to cap off a superhero themed season with a world-altering cataclysm.

Here’s everything that happened in the event, what’s going to be coming in Season 5, and when those all important servers will be back online.

What happened in the Galactus event?

The presence of the planet devouring Galactus has been hanging over the Fortnite world for a number of weeks, and finally on the evening of 1 December, players were tasked with taking the fight to the big bad.

In a plan ‘devised’ by Iron Man, players had to shoot a fleet of the game’s famous Battle Busses packed full of Gamma Bombs down Galactus’ large gullet.

The whole thing was more linear than many players expected, and didn’t really amount to much more than an interactive video and a solo minigame, but it was still a grand spectacle.

There were some blink-and-you’ll-miss-them cameos from Thor, Wolverine and other Marvel favourites, but it’s more the aftermath of the event which holds the most intrigue.

The whole thing destroyed Fortnite’s map once again, and though the game hasn’t been ‘sucked’ into a ‘black hole’ this time around, there are some major changes to the game’s map to be expected.

What’s new in Season 5?

Season 5 is going under the title ‘Zero Point’, and looks to bring a number of big changes to Fortnite.

"The Zero Point is exposed," the new season's press release reads, "but no one escapes the Loop, not on your watch. Join Agent Jones and the greatest hunters from across Realities like The Mandalorian in a chaotic battle that will shape the future of the Island..."

That's right, it appears this season is crossing over with Star Wars spin-off TV series, The Mandalorian (with guest appearances from the titular character as well as the adorable Baby Yoda), and seems to be focusing more on Fortnite’s ‘meta’ narrative than previous seasons have.

According to this season’s lore, the suited agents overseeing Fortnite's reality are trying to stop more characters from escaping its “loop”, which means the universe’s Agent Jonesy is now in the game, and is recruiting a team of elite bounty hunters to aid him in his quest.

What's changed about the map?

Season 5's map appears to be reflecting changes made to the play space with other the game’s first chapter fifth season.

A large desert area has been added, which covers a central area where the mysterious ‘Zero Point’ is now exposed.

New points of interest include a gladiator arena named Colossal Coliseum, a hilltop area named Hunter's Haven, a mysterious walled area named Stealthy Stronghold, and a new remix of an old area, Salty Towers.

How does the Battle Pass work?

As usual, all players will be able to enjoy Season 5 of Fortnite Chapter 2 for free, and even partake in some of the weekly challenges, but to get the most out of it you might want to opt for a Battle Pass.

The Battle Pass once again delivers 100 tiers to progress through by completing challenges and gaining in-game experience, with loot to unlock along the way.

The Battle Pass costs 950 V-Bucks (Fortnite’s in-game currency). The cheapest pack of V-Bucks you can buy is 1,000 for £7.99.

It's also the only way to get The Mandalorian skin this season, and also includes Mancake - a cowboy made out of flapjack – an anime-style character, and a skeleton gladiator.

When will Fortnite’s servers be back online?

Following the event, Fortnite’s servers went down, and players were unable to log in to the game.

This isn’t a cause for concern though; Epic Games often takes the online infrastructure behind the multiplayer game offline in order to implement big new updates.

Considering the transition from Season 4 to Season 5 is a substantial one, it stands to reason that the servers would be down a little longer than usual

Epic Games themselves have said that the Fortnite servers should have been back online from 9am UK time, so you should have no issue logging into the game once again.

However, bear in mind that with new content to discover, many lapsed players may be making a return to the game, leading to an increased player count for the first few days.

Though Epic Games’ tech is more than solid, there’s a chance servers could be slower than usual under an increased demand.