The most recent season of Fortnite Battle Royale, released on Nov. 3, has caused many players who were previously active in the first chapter of the game, which lasted from 2017 to 2019, to return. This surge of new players, along with returning players, has led to one of the highest active player counts in the game’s history.

Since Fortnite’s inception in late 2017, the map and gameplay have been consistently updating. In the past few years, the game has gone through four complete “chapters” containing multiple “seasons.” Each season brings large updates to the map and storyline and introduces new cosmetics. The fifth season of Chapter 4, called “Fortnite OG,” took players back to the many incarnations of the map from Chapter 1. Each week, the map changes to reflect a season between Seasons 5 through 10 of Chapter 1; it also updates different weapons and features in the game to match the season they are from.

Fortnite OG ended on December 2 with an event titled “The Big Bang.” The event featured showcases of new game modes coming to Fortnite, such as music, racing, and Lego modes. Additionally, the event featured a digital performance by rapper Eminem in which he was joined by a digital version of the late rapper Juice WRLD. The event was such a success that it was shown two more times after its premiere. This event brought about the end of the Chapter as Chapter 5 was released the next morning.

The nostalgia this new update offered caused old players to return. “I played a little bit here and there but I didn’t really play that much until now,” sophomore Yonatan Suky said. 

The sense of familiarity with the map, items, and characters made gamers excited to play. 

“All my friends are getting on,” Suky said. “The OG maps, the OG loot, everything about it just brings back memories.” 

He wasn’t the only one feeling nostalgic, as the update brought Fortnite an all-time peak of players. The game saw a 521,255 percent uptick in active players and 3,913,817 players on the release date alone.

Not only was the season made to bring attention back to Fortnite, but also as a way for the company to say goodbye to Chief Creative Officer Donald Mustard, who retired a few months ago. Only time will tell if Fortnite’s recent success will continue.