Fortnite Override: what's new this season

Fortnite's current Battle Royale season is Chapter 7 Season 4, called Override. It launched on August 20, 2026, and Epic's Battle Pass page lists its end as November 1, 2026 (Eastern Time). The theme is video games themselves: in the season's story the villain Geno has stolen the Zero Point, and guest franchises such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Tetris, PAC-MAN and Mega Man have spilled onto the Island.

The big idea: you can rewrite the match

The headline feature is the Override Console. Consoles appear in every match, and the first player to reach one picks a modifier that changes the rules for the entire lobby. Their name is displayed around the console, so everyone knows who flipped the switch. Rarer Squad Overrides only help the squad that claims them, at the cost of broadcasting that squad's position on the map. Launch options ranged from Sonic Speed and Infinite Stamina to Big Loot, Extra Life and More XP, and every update since has added more.

Three other systems sit around the consoles:

• Cheat Codes are hidden in POIs and sprayed on walls. Enter one and you free a Sprite ally.
• Loot Hacks let you spend Sprite Dust to add specific items to what your own Chests can drop.
• Lobby Hacks are codes typed into a new Admin Panel in the lobby. Epic says they can grant XP and Sprite Dust, and even rare Sprite variants.

New places to drop

Update v42.00 added three named locations: Green Hill Zone, complete with Sonic-style speed loops; the ancient Stone Sanctum; and Reality's Reign, a tangle of pipes and power cables that Epic dares you to follow to its source. Smaller arcade landmarks, including PAC-MAN, Blinky and Pinky islands, are dotted around the map.

The Battle Pass

Buying the Pass unlocks Sonic the Hedgehog immediately, and the Tails Sidekick is in there too. Other outfits include Wrixel, Mali, Geno, Phantom, Grace Crowne, Bastian and K1TTY W1NS. The Pass costs 800 V-Bucks or comes with Fortnite Crew, and it can pay back up to 800 V-Bucks as you level, which is enough for the next one. Gifting it to a friend unlocks the Peril Peak Mali style for both of you.

What has landed since launch

Epic promised a weekly rhythm and has stuck to it: boosted Sprite rewards and a new Lobby Hack on Mondays, new items on Thursdays and themed Power Hours on Saturdays.

• v42.10 (September 3) added Big Head and Prop Hunt Overrides, moved the Holo Twister and Deadeye Assault Rifles and the Wrecker Revolver into the Loot Hack pool, and released new Sprites such as X-Ray and Onigiri.
• Mega Man: the Mega Buster arm cannon arrived at launch, and the Mega Man X outfit got its own spot in the in-game news on September 11.
• v42.20 (September 17) brought KINGDOM HEARTS (the Kingdom Key and Sea Salt Ice Cream), Rebecca's Guns from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the Tetris Tower objective and new Sprites including Crash Bandicoot and Blinky. It also changed how Cheat Codes roll Sprite rarities and merged the NA-West, NA-Central and NA-East matchmaking regions into one NA region with selectable subregions.

What is coming next

The v42.20 notes schedule Bounty Hunter Sprite variants and two more Overrides, Health Siphon and Suppressing Fire, for September 24, and a Birthday Sprite for September 26, in the middle of the ninth-birthday event that runs until October 1. The FNCS Global Championship takes over Antwerp on September 26 and 27. After that, VICE reports that Epic has teased Fortnitemares 2026 for October 1.

Dates can slip, and Epic changes the loot pool with hotfixes between updates, so check the in-game news before you plan a session around any of this. Our news page keeps the quick notes up to date.