Epic Games has postponed Fortnite’s next live in-game event and the launch of the highly anticipated Chapter 2 Season 3 due to the ongoing protests regarding systemic racism and police brutality taking place in the USA, which was sparked by the death of George Floyd.
The live event, named “The Device”, will now take place on June 15th and the next season of the game will be introduced on June 17th.
“We’re acutely aware of the pain our friends, families, team members, players, and communities are experiencing,” stated Epic Games.
Epic said that recent events are a reminder of ongoing injustices in society. “The team is eager to move Fortnite forward, but we need to balance the Season 3 launch with time for the team to focus on themselves, their families, and their communities,” it added.
The beginning of Chapter 2 Season 3 has been deferred for the third time. In April, the company pushed the new season’s launch to the 4th of June. It was originally scheduled to be released on the 30th of April. For this, Epic Games offered no reason, but it is likely that the launch had been postponed due to COVID-19. The lockdown implemented due to COVID-19 has forced many of Epic’s employees to work from home, which has been detrimental for the game’s progress.
Last month, Epic Games announced that the start of Fortnite’s next season had been delayed by another week, from June 4th to June 11th. The company had also postponed the end-of-season live event to June 6th.
Besides Epic Games, other companies, including Sony and Google, pushed back their planned events due to widespread outrage over the treatment of African Americans and people of colour in the USA. Sony deferred the PlayStation 5 event that was scheduled for the 4th of June. Announcing the delay, Sony said, “We do not feel that right now is a time for celebration, and for now, we want to stand back and allow more important voices to be heard.” Google also delayed the launch of Android 11 and the rollout of its first beta.
