Fortnite Release Date and Complete Launch History (2011 to 2026)

The Fortnite release date was July 25, 2017, when Epic Games launched Save the World as a paid early access game on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The free Battle Royale mode, the version most people mean, followed on September 26, 2017. Mobile, Switch and newer consoles came later, between 2018 and 2025.

When did Fortnite come out?

Fortnite came out twice, in a sense. Save the World, a co-op mode where four players build forts and fight off waves of zombie-like Husks, went on sale on July 25, 2017 through Founder’s Packs; some packs gave access a few days early, from July 21. Battle Royale arrived two months later as a separate, free mode on the same three platforms.

So which date is “the” release date? Officially it’s July 25. Honestly though, if someone asks when Fortnite came out, they almost always mean the September 2017 Battle Royale launch, because that’s the game that took over schools, streams and every group chat in 2018.

The project itself is much older. Epic announced Fortnite at the Spike Video Game Awards in December 2011, so roughly six years passed between the first trailer and the first paying players.

When did Fortnite Battle Royale come out?

September 26, 2017, free to play on PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Epic built the mode on top of Save the World’s building and shooting, dropped the zombies, and put 100 players on one island.

It took off fast. Epic announced 10 million players within the first two weeks, and by June 2018 it reported 125 million. Building was the difference: in other battle royales you hid behind a rock, while in Fortnite you could throw up a wall and a ramp in a second (that skill gap still defines high-level play). Being free, on every platform, didn’t hurt either.

Fortnite release dates by platform

PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One had both modes from day one. Everything else followed over the next eight years.

Phones are the messy part, to be fair. In August 2020 Epic added its own payment option inside the app, and Apple and Google both pulled Fortnite from their stores within hours. Years of court fights followed. Fortnite came back to the US App Store in May 2025, after a court ruling in Epic’s case against Apple. Our Fortnite on Switch 2 guide covers the newest console version.

Fortnite release date for each chapter

Since 2017, Fortnite content has come in chapters, each with a new island, split into seasons of roughly two to three months. A chapter usually ends with a live event.

The Chapter 1 finale is still the one people talk about. On October 13, 2019 the whole map got sucked into a black hole and the game showed nothing but that black hole for about two days, while millions of people watched streams of an empty screen. Funny enough, it worked as marketing better than any trailer Epic ever cut, and every chapter finale since has tried to copy it. For every season one by one, see our full Fortnite seasons list.

What Fortnite season is it right now?

Chapter 7 Season 4, called “Override,” started on August 20, 2026. Before it, Chapter 7 Season 1 opened on November 30, 2025, Season 2 “Showdown” followed on March 19, 2026, and Season 3 “Runners” ran from June 6 until Override replaced it in August.

What comes after Override hasn’t been announced by Epic yet. Leakers talk about a short mini-season and then Chapter 8 near the end of 2026, but that’s rumor, not a date (we’ll update this when Epic confirms).

Fortnite release date for every game mode

Battle Royale is only one part of Fortnite now. Every mode below runs inside the same app, on the same Epic account and V-Bucks balance.

Save the World is the odd story here. Why did it take so long? Epic promised it would go free in 2018, delayed that again and again, took it out of early access in June 2020 while keeping it paid, and only made it free on April 16, 2026, the same day it arrived on Switch 2. Nearly nine years after release. Mobile and the original Switch still don’t have it.

Fortnite’s biggest moments since release

Put simply, some dates matter more than patch numbers. Remember 2018? In 2018, Ninja’s stream with Drake broke Twitch records and Fortnite went fully mainstream. In 2019, Bugha won $3 million at the first Fortnite World Cup (he’s still on our list of the richest esports players). In April 2020, Travis Scott’s Astronomical concert drew 12.3 million concurrent players for the first show and 27.7 million unique players across all five, by Epic’s count.

Then came Zero Build in 2022, which removed building entirely, and the OG season in November 2023, which brought back the Chapter 1 map and gave Fortnite some of its biggest player numbers in years. That nostalgia trick has come back regularly since. And if you want a cosmetic history lesson that starts at the Fortnite release date, our rarest Fortnite skins list goes back to the Season 1 outfits from 2017.

FAQ

What is the Fortnite release date?

Fortnite came out on July 25, 2017 with the paid Save the World mode. The free Battle Royale mode followed on September 26, 2017 on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

How old is Fortnite?

Fortnite turned 9 in 2026: Save the World launched in July 2017 and Battle Royale in September 2017. Epic first announced the game in December 2011.

When did Fortnite come out on mobile?

Fortnite came to iOS on March 15, 2018 as an invite-only test and opened to everyone on April 2, 2018. Android followed on August 9, 2018, first on Samsung Galaxy phones.

When did Fortnite come out on Nintendo Switch?

Fortnite launched on Nintendo Switch on June 12, 2018. The Nintendo Switch 2 version was available from the console’s launch on June 5, 2025.

Is Fortnite Save the World free?

Yes. Save the World became free to play on April 16, 2026 on PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch 2. It is not available on mobile or the original Switch.

What chapter is Fortnite on now?

Fortnite is on Chapter 7, which started on November 30, 2025. Chapter 7 Season 4, “Override,” began on August 20, 2026.