Epic Games is ending Chapter 7 Season 2 with Shattered, a one-time live event that pits the Ice King against The Foundation in a fight that literally tears the Island apart. It is the first large-scale live event since Collision closed out Chapter 3 Season 2, and the teaser makes clear it will set up the map you drop into when Chapter 7 Season 3 begins.
Quick answer: Shattered starts on June 5, 2026, at 7:00 PM ET. Launch Fortnite before 6:20 PM ET, open the Discover menu, and select the Shattered playlist to get in before servers fill.
Release time: June 5, 2026, 7:00 PM ET (doors open 6:20 PM ET)
Shattered start time and global schedule
The fight begins at 7:00 PM ET, but the event playlist opens earlier so you can load in and claim a spot. Doors open at 6:20 PM ET. These big cinematic events fill servers to capacity quickly, so getting in early matters.
| Region | Fight start time |
|---|---|
| Pacific (PT) | 4:00 PM, June 5 |
| Central (CT) | 6:00 PM, June 5 |
| Eastern (ET) | 7:00 PM, June 5 |
| British Summer Time (BST) | 12:00 AM, June 6 |
| Central European Summer Time (CEST) | 1:00 AM, June 6 |
| Japan Standard Time (JST) | 8:00 AM, June 6 |
| Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) | 9:00 AM, June 6 |
How to join the Shattered event in Fortnite
Step 1: Open Fortnite well before the start window. Aim to have the game running by 6:20 PM ET when the playlist goes live.
Step 2: Go to the Discover menu and look for the dedicated Shattered live event playlist. It appears once the event access window opens.
Step 3: Select the Shattered playlist and queue in. You will know it worked when you load into the event lobby rather than a standard Battle Royale match.
If you can't find the playlist right at 6:20 PM ET, give it a moment and refresh the Discover page. Server queues tend to spike in the final minutes, so an early sign-in is the most reliable way to avoid being locked out.
Your team changes what you see
The headline mechanic here is unusual for Fortnite. Throughout Chapter 7 Season 2, players aligned with either Team Foundation or Team Ice King through the Showdown Rivalries. Your in-game experience during Shattered changes based on the side you picked. A branching live event isn't something Fortnite has done at this scale before, and it directly pays off the season-long conflict.
What the teaser reveals about the Season 3 map
Epic's teaser, posted under the tagline "When the island breaks, another begins," lays out the stakes plainly. It opens with the Zero Point shards merging after the Dark Voyager finishes his mission, then shows Ben Starr's The Visitor removing his helmet and dropping it, which would mark the first time the character is unmasked in the storyline.
From there, the Dark Voyager appears in what looks like a final form made of pure Chaos energy, tying back to the Chaos Cubes players have been tracking all season. The Foundation leads the charge alongside The Imagined and Jules, while the Ice King wields the Reforged Infinity Blade and breaks the Island into pieces. During the footage, The Visitor says, "The stage is set. You chose your side. This ends now."
That Island-shattering moment is the part that matters for next season. Fortnite finales have historically used these cinematic beats to reset the map, and the "another begins" line points squarely at a new Season 3 Island emerging from the destruction. If Epic carries the teaser through into the live event, the closing moments could be the first real look at the Chapter 7 Season 3 map.
What happens after Shattered ends
Once the event wraps, Fortnite goes offline for maintenance, matchmaking and other Epic services come down, and Chapter 7 Season 3 launches several hours later on June 6. This downtime pattern matches how earlier finales like Collision rolled into a new chapter, with the game dark until the next season is ready.
Details on the Season 3 map layout, weapon pool, and battle pass are still under wraps. A summer-themed season is the expectation given the June timing, and a Masters of the Universe collaboration lines up neatly because the film opens the same weekend the season starts, making a Skeletor appearance plausible. Treat anything beyond the confirmed event as expectation rather than fact until Epic shows it in-game.
The most dependable plan is simple. Sign in by 6:20 PM ET on June 5, queue into the Shattered playlist from Discover, and watch the Island break in real time before Season 3 goes live the following day.