Fortnite’s black hole launches conspiracy theories and memes

On Sunday, Fortnite erupted in a black hole.

In the finale of the wildly popular game’s 10th season, the entire Battle Royale Island was sucked into space, wiping out the entire map and rendering the game unplayable. The live event, titled “The End,” left many players in confusion, especially because they had anticipated a trailer for the next season. All of Fortnite’s official social media channels were also wiped of content—save for a stream of the black hole.

But since millions of people play Fortnite, and it’s earned billions of dollars in sales, fans figure even a cosmic explosion won’t mean the end. For now, though, players plenty of time to speculate over what will happen next. Some people have gone quite in-depth, even using data mining to find clues for the game’s future.

One data miner, known as @Lucas7yoshi on Twitter, predicted when the game will be back based on an analysis of the Fortnite code.

“The the-end thing has its end_time as Thursday at 4am EST,” @Lucas7yoshi tweeted Sunday. “I really doubt they really going to make people not play for 4 days or whatever straight but its epic lmao. Take it as you will.”

The https://t.co/0TDeMk7Bda code was updated so the the-end thing has its end_time as Thursday at 4am EST

i really doubt they really going to make people not play for 4 days or whatever straight but its epic lmao

take it as you will pic.twitter.com/P6gYB7lWHw

— Lucas7yoshi - FNBR Leaks/News (@Lucas7yoshi) October 14, 2019

Other users found hidden messages in the game’s code.

“This is the complete text the numbers mean: ‘I was not alone. Others were outside the Loop. This was not calculated. The moment is now inevitable,'” Twitter user @ShiinaBR wrote.

This is the complete text the numbers mean:

“I was not alone. Others were outside the Loop. This was not calculated. The moment is now inevitable."

— ShiinaBR - Fortnite Leaks (@ShiinaBR) October 13, 2019

Also for anyone confused about the fortnite numbers: #Fortnite #FortniteChapter2 #ripfortnite pic.twitter.com/M9k2XcEUI5

— layna wilson (@layna) October 14, 2019

Predictably, many people are making memes out of the speculation. One user plugged in digits from the game’s code into Google Maps and discovered the coordinates lead to an image of a crab-filled lot.

This is no joke - @FortniteGame are FULLY trolling us all.

If you type the numbers "11 146 15 62 google maps" in Google and click the first link, you get a street view of a crab rave.

LMAO pic.twitter.com/a1ADbXdxoH

— Jon (@MrDalekJD) October 13, 2019

And the memes just keep coming.

Everyone trying to figure out what the Fortnite numbers mean pic.twitter.com/8phQgUeuPQ

— timthetatman (@timthetatman) October 13, 2019

11 146 15 62 means Aquaman in Fortnite confirmed?https://t.co/xoTh1bov6T pic.twitter.com/D0CxJvxTHI

— Twitch (@Twitch) October 13, 2019

people worrying global warming vs worrying about Fortnite’s black hole pic.twitter.com/G9RZkDK3Sy

— daniel (@DFkinLopes_) October 14, 2019

fortnite kids leaving the house after having stared at a black hole for 20+ hours #FortniteBlackout pic.twitter.com/Va4oP16g54

— FreeUpElChapo (@PapaElChapo) October 14, 2019

Fortnite community when they woke up today: pic.twitter.com/SgEj8MgR66

— Fortnite/Somewhere? (@FortClown21) October 14, 2019

While no one knows for sure what’s coming next, players seem confident that something epic is on the horizon.

READ MORE:

• Fortnite is getting sued for being ‘as addictive as cocaine’
• 16-year-old Fortnite world champ ‘swatted’ during Twitch stream
• The best Fortnite skins: Cuddle bears, ancient vikings, and more

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