Loads of players have been hit with a Fortnite waiting screen, but we do have an exact time for when the Fortnite servers come back online.

Update: Epic has added another 5 hours! We’ve got an updated timescale for when you can play Chapter 5 Season 2.

Trying to test out the new season and getting hit by a Fortnite waiting screen? You’re not alone. While it’s easy to assume this is a problem on your end, it’s actually a wider issue affecting the Battle Royale as a whole.

During the first day of Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2, Epic had some server problems. While the game was due to come back online a bit ago with the update already available, players can’t actually get in. Everyone is stuck asking when are the Fortnite servers coming back on?

Epic has decided to extend the downtime for the game. Rather than the few hours before the game relaunches, the update was pushed out but the servers were kept off. When are the Fortnite servers back online?

What Time Do the Fortnite Servers Come Back Online?

Epic has given us some more clarity on when are the Fortnite servers coming back on. They’ve specifically delayed the downtime ending by 8 more hours after some initial problems pushing out the update. Then another 5 hours!

In terms of what time it will be when you’ll get out of that Fortnite waiting room, we’ve got a rough period. This is the target in each time zone.

When Are the Fortnite Servers Coming Back On in Each Time Zone?

• 3 AM GMT
• 4 AM CET
• 8 PM EST
• 5 PM PST
• 12 AM ACT

That’s when it’s due to come back according to Epic’s delay announcement. It could change though.

There seems to have been some kind of problem with the new update. It could get resolved quicker, which could mean the time when the Fortnite servers come back online gets moved up. This is our most likely estimate based on what Epic’s said so far though.

Can You Download the New Fortnite Update?

This current session of downtime has come at a bit of an annoying time. Players might have even been part way through getting the update downloaded. Can you still pre-load the new season so you can jump back in though?

Downloads appear to be working for some. The game was briefly available to download earlier. However, there are problems with the servers as a whole. If you check the FN server status, they’re currently down.

You might experience very slow speeds trying to download part of the update right now. It depends on your platform. Epic has taken their servers offline though, so unless you were majority of the way through it before the downtime was extended, you probably can’t finish the download.

Frustratingly, this will mean a longer Fortnite waiting room stay for a lot of players. We might have to wait until the time the Fortnite servers come back online before we can even download the game.

Since this pushes the game’s available time into more peak hours, we’ll likely see some overloaded servers at Epic. This could mean a long waiting period to get into the game as we saw with the launch of Fortnite OG.

Will There Be a Fortnite Waiting Screen?

Similar to OG, all this could mean a longer wait even once it’s back online. We can probably expect to sit in a queue or Fortnite waiting room once the game is back online.

The new update for Fortnite definitely looks impressive. It’s a shame there’s a delay in jumping in and playing. Especially if you already had the update in progress when we got hit with the extra delay!

Hopefully, the wait will be worth it. The patch notes so far definitely look like they’ll make for a fun change to the last season.