Fortnite is about to pivot hard again with Chapter 7 Season 1, titled Pacific Break. The new season follows the Zero Hour live event and swaps the current Simpsons reality for a West Coast–inspired island, a rethought opening drop, and a Battle Pass built around film crossovers.
Below is a structured rundown of what’s coming, what changes moment-to-moment matches, and what still sits in leak territory.
Chapter 7 timing and downtime
Chapter 7 launches on Saturday, November 29, 2025, shortly after the Zero Hour live event wraps up.
| Event | Time (ET) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Zero Hour live event | 2:00 PM (doors open ~1:20 PM) | One-time finale event for Chapter 6 |
| Chapter 7 downtime starts | 2:30 PM | Servers go offline for patching |
| Expected Chapter 7 go‑live | ~8:00 PM | Downtime typically lasts 5–6 hours |
Once downtime ends, Chapter 7 Season 1: Pacific Break becomes the new baseline for Battle Royale and Zero Build.
Pacific Break’s west coast theme and new island
Pacific Break shifts Fortnite to a reality rooted in United States West Coast culture. The new island leans into Hollywood and California motifs: palm-lined streets, coastal vistas, and entertainment-industry landmarks.
Leaked gameplay from an early creator event shows:
- Sandy Strip – a strip of neon and casinos that reads like a Fortnite take on the Las Vegas Strip.
- Battlewood – a large hillside sign mirroring the Hollywood sign, anchoring a film-industry district.
Overall the color palette and layout recall the brighter visuals of Chapters 3 and 4 but tied to an American west coast setting rather than a generic island.
The Seven return and the Zero Point story
The Seven, Fortnite’s long-running group of island defenders, step back into focus. Chapter 7’s name, marketing, and live-event build-up all point to their return after being largely absent since Chapter 4.
The Zero Hour event centers on recovering a missing Zero Point shard and confronting the Dark Presence, with the Paradigm strongly hinted as piloting a key vehicle in the battle. The exact roster of Seven members appearing on the island once the season starts is not detailed yet, and they are not part of the Chapter 7 Battle Pass itself.
No more Battle Bus: tsunami surfing and wingsuits
For the first time, matches will not begin with players jumping out of the Battle Bus. Instead, Chapter 7 introduces a tsunami-based drop phase.
| Change | How it works | Impact on play |
|---|---|---|
| Tsunami drop-in | Players ride a massive wave toward the island and select from defined drop points based on where they “embark” on the wave. | Alters early-game routing and contests; less freeform than a flying bus but still offers choice. |
| Wingsuit item | New equipment that lets players glide and dive across the map, similar to a Just Cause–style wingsuit. | Provides mid-match mobility and vertical repositioning beyond gliders and launch pads. |
These changes make the opening minutes more cinematic and give traversal a stronger focus on continuous motion rather than isolated launch pads.
Battle Pass: Kill Bill, Back to the Future, and new originals
Chapter 7’s Battle Pass is framed around film collaborations while still packing in original outfits.
| Battle Pass element | Details |
|---|---|
| The Bride (Kill Bill) | Headline collab skin based on Beatrix Kiddo, wearing the yellow-and-black suit from the films. |
| Marty McFly (Back to the Future) | Second marquee collab, with Marty’s recognizable outfit; the DeLorean vehicle has been teased but not confirmed as pass content. |
| Original Epic outfits | Six new skins including the previously surveyed Beach Lion and a group themed around LA-style influencers and gym culture. |
| Bonus/late-season collab | Ninjago is referenced for the pass overall; one collab character may unlock later through quests. |
The Battle Pass costs 1,000 V‑Bucks. Fortnite Crew subscribers receive it automatically while their subscription is active, along with the current OG and Music passes. If the subscription lapses, progress through locked rewards stops even if you keep leveling.
Kill Bill: The Lost Chapter and free Yuki and Gogo skins
Kill Bill is more than a simple skin bundle in this chapter. Epic is premiering an animated short called The Lost Chapter: Yuki’s Revenge, developed with Quentin Tarantino. The story centers on Yuki Yubari, sister of Gogo Yubari, in a previously unproduced chapter of the Kill Bill narrative.
On the Fortnite side, players can obtain:
- The Bride in the Battle Pass.
- Yuki Yubari and Gogo Yubari as free skins by logging in and completing limited-time claim steps before the new season begins.
These cosmetics tie into Pacific Break’s darker, cinema-inspired “after dark” angle without replacing the broader summer-coast vibe of the map.
Loot pool changes: new M16 and returning shotguns
Chapter 7 rotates the weapon pool again, mixing new guns with unvaulted favorites.
| Weapon | Type | Status |
|---|---|---|
| M16 Assault Rifle | Assault rifle | New primary AR for the season |
| Hammer Pump Shotgun | Shotgun | Returning from previous chapters |
| Pump ‘N Dump | Shotgun | Reintroduced shotgun variant |
| Modded Enforcer AR | Assault rifle | Reworked version of the Enforcer with attachments or tweaks |
| New Grenade | Tactical/utility | Debuts this season; effect has not been detailed |
Tuning, rarity tiers, and crafting or mod options for these weapons are not fully described yet, but the selection clearly leans into traditional AR–shotgun loadouts with some experimental items layered on top.
Self-revive and driveable Reboot Vans
Revives and reboots are being reimagined in Chapter 7, with two big additions: self-revive and the ability to move Reboot Vans.
| Feature | Function | Key unknowns |
|---|---|---|
| Self-revive | Players can revive themselves under certain conditions instead of relying only on teammates. | Exact trigger, item usage, or cooldown behavior has not been specified, particularly in solo modes. |
| Driveable Reboot Vans | Teams can drive a Reboot Van to a safer location before starting the reboot process. | Details like fuel, health, and how many vans spawn per match are not yet clear. |
This design gives squads more control over where they bring teammates back, reducing the risk of rebooting in open, camped spots. It also raises tactical questions around defending or ambushing moving vans near the endgame.
VS Bots: a dedicated practice mode
Chapter 7 adds a VS Bots playlist that fills the lobby entirely with AI opponents on the main Battle Royale island. The goal is to create a low-pressure environment for:
- New players learning basic building, rotating, and fighting.
- Returning players shaking off rust before reentering competitive lobbies.
- Testing new weapons, mobility items, or sensitivities without human third-parties interrupting.
This mode revives some of the casual, sandbox energy from Fortnite’s earlier years at a time when standard public lobbies often feel significantly more competitive.
Play as a Boss on the island
A long-rumored mechanic finally arrives: players can impersonate or directly play as an in‑match Boss. Content creators who attended the Chapter 7 reveal describe a system where you can assume control of a Boss character, with the implied access to their health pool and signature weaponry.
Two implementation details remain open:
- Whether playing as a Boss requires spending gold bars.
- Whether a specific consumable or device on the island triggers the transformation.
However it is gated, the feature adds a new risk–reward layer around Boss POIs beyond simply eliminating them for mythic loot.
The Queen’s Cradle and the “dodecahedron” tease
Epic co‑founder Mark Rein described the theme word for the season as “dodecahedron” – a 12‑sided shape. That nod has been widely read as pointing to the return of The Queen’s Cradle, a large, rounded multi‑faceted object from the Chapter 2 Season 8 finale event.
Exact mechanics for the Cradle in Chapter 7 are not detailed, but its presence would deepen the ongoing storyline around reality-bending shapes, the Zero Point, and Fortnite’s broader multiverse mythology.
Storm rework and dynamic circles
The storm is being reworked in Chapter 7, moving away from only circular safe zones. The storm wall itself will be able to form various shapes and change dynamically as the match progresses.
Practically, that means:
- Endgame safe zones may have sharper angles or irregular edges, creating new dead zones and sightlines.
- Late‑game building and terrain usage will become less predictable compared with concentric circles.
Combined with the high-mobility tools arriving this chapter, endgames are likely to become more chaotic and movement-heavy.
OG playlist: Ice King and a winter island
While Pacific Break rolls out, Fortnite OG continues to run as a separate throwback experience. OG Season 7 in that playlist brings back the Ice King and covers the island in a new ice biome with widespread snow, tying into the game’s seasonal Winterfest window.
The Ice King is expected to appear as a boss in some capacity, though a dedicated mode centered fully on him is not confirmed.
Fortnite Festival Season 12 with Lisa
Epic is lining up Fortnite Festival Season 12 alongside Chapter 7. Thai rapper Lisa headlines the season with two new skins available through the Music Pass, plus new Jam Tracks and free instruments for festival play.
This continues the rhythm of treating Festival as a parallel live service, updating its passes and cosmetics in lockstep with Battle Royale chapters.
Pacific Break sets up Chapter 7 as a hybrid of summer blockbuster spectacle and mechanical experimentation. The west coast island, Kill Bill and Back to the Future crossovers, self-revive, movable Reboot Vans, and a bots-only practice mode all meaningfully reshape how a standard match feels without discarding Fortnite’s fundamentals. How these systems land will depend heavily on tuning, but on paper the chapter gives both casual and competitive players new ways to engage with the island.
