Aware of the optics, Fortnite takes a pre-emptive stance for Chapter 3, Season 2 launch

Fortnite launched a controversial war arc that coincides with the issues in Ukraine.

The war is on in Fortnite between the Imagined Order and The Seven and their allies, and it’s been in development since the start of, well, the game itself. Chapter 3, Season 1 started to really amp up the action, and with the new season launching on the 20th of March, it was very obvious that this storyline was going to ramp up.

And boy did it.

The game added tanks, hover ships with cannons, roaming death squads, plus there are mortar shell impact sites all around the map. Heck, there are even battle lines on the map itself, designating territory. This wouldn’t be so bad but considering this is all coinciding with Russia’s unproved war with Ukraine, it really doesn’t seem to be the best time to be doing all this.

Fortnite is keenly aware of that and has decided to donate all proceeds from March 20th to April 3 to the Ukrainian humanitarian relief effort. They’ve also made it very easy for fans to get in and help.

The optics and timing of this new arc looks bad for Fornite

This isn’t the worst-case scenario. As mentioned before, the game has been ramping up to this arc for some time and the data and details were likely already in the game at the start of the new Chapter, or at the very least, aspects of it were.

The invasion of Ukraine was long believed to be bluster by Russia, and it’s understandable that the Epic, Fortnite’s parent company, probably didn’t expect their newest war arc to be released at the same time as an actual war in Europe.

So yes, the optics and timing are bad, but Fortnite did launch a bit of a relief effort of their own to stymie the tide, but maybe do more than just two weeks worth of content?

You literally have houses destroyed by roaming tanks. You can at least give a month.