Batman is trading the cowl for beachwear. Epic Games is bringing the DC Hot Bat Summer event to Fortnite as Act 2 of Chapter 7 Season 3, dropping a batch of summer-themed cosmetics, a new sidekick, a Batmobile, and a fresh Sprite into the loot pool. The rollout arrives with the v41.20 patch, so servers go down first before the content goes live.
Quick answer: DC Hot Bat Summer goes live on July 16, 2026 at 6:00 AM ET (10:00 AM UTC). Wait for the servers to come back online after the scheduled maintenance instead of trying to log in early.
Release time: July 16, 2026 at 6:00 AM ET (10:00 AM UTC)
DC Hot Bat Summer release time by region
The event unlocks at the same moment worldwide. Here is when that lands in your local time zone.
| Time zone | Start time (July 16) |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles (PT) | 3:00 AM |
| Chicago (CT) | 5:00 AM |
| New York (ET) | 6:00 AM |
| Greenwich (UTC) | 10:00 AM |
| London (BST) | 11:00 AM |
| Paris (CEST) | 12:00 PM |
| Dubai (GST) | 2:00 PM |
| Seoul (KST) | 7:00 PM |
| Tokyo (JST) | 7:00 PM |
| Sydney (AEST) | 8:00 PM |
Note: Scheduled downtime for the v41.20 patch starts before the event, around 4:00 AM ET. Trying to connect during maintenance only produces connection timeouts, so give the servers time to stabilize before you queue up.
Every new skin and cosmetic in Hot Bat Summer
The headline additions are four beach variants for DC characters already in the game, plus a companion and a vehicle themed around Gotham’s summer trip.
| Category | What’s included |
|---|---|
| Character skins | Summer Batman, Summer Harley Quinn, Summer Poison Ivy, Summer Catwoman |
| New sidekick | Ace the Bat-Hound |
| New vehicle | Dune Buggy-inspired Batmobile |
The Batman Sprite and how it works
Alongside the cosmetics, Epic is adding the Batman Sprite to the loot pool. It follows the same Special variant track used by earlier Sprites, so you can find it in Holofoil, Gold, Gummy, and Galaxy versions scattered across the map.
Its exact abilities have not been detailed yet. Based on how previous Sprites like the Grim Reaper Sprite lean into tracking and awareness, the Batman Sprite is expected to help with map movement or flag nearby enemies before they reach you. Treat that as the likely direction rather than a confirmed kit until it goes live.
Event quests and free rewards
Hot Bat Summer comes with a set of themed quests that feed directly into the Chapter 7 Season 3 Battle Pass. Clearing them awards a large chunk of XP, and there is a strong chance the challenge track hands out free cosmetics as well.
If a free skin is on the table, it will come from grinding the event quests rather than the Item Shop. That makes the challenges the fastest route to expanding your locker without spending V-Bucks during the event window.
How to confirm the event is live
Once the v41.20 patch finishes downloading and the servers reopen after maintenance, you will see the new DC Hot Bat Summer skins and the Batman Sprite appear in-game, with the event quests listed in your quest log. If you still see connection errors or the old content after 6:00 AM ET, the servers have not fully come back yet, so wait a few minutes and restart the client before trying again.
Everything centers on that July 16 launch, so the smart move is to set a reminder, let the patch install, and jump in once the servers stabilize to start clearing quests and picking up the summer Gotham lineup.
