It’s New Year’s Eve/New Years Day right now depending on where you live/what time you’re reading this article. To be fair, you could be reading this days from now so hey – Happy 2019, you crazy kids.
Anyway, it turns out a lot of Fortnite’s players seemingly have forgotten about time zones as they began Tweeting about a Fortnite ‘leak’ of their New Year’s Event.
Kotaku reports that the event began around 5am ET and according to Epic Games, every hour until it’s officially 2019 everywhere, a rift will appear in the sky. A giant disco ball appears and a crowd can be heard chanting down from 10. When the countdown gets to zero, fireworks explode and music plays, causing players to dance for the duration. The ball then explodes in a burst of confetti, and fireworks spell out 2019 in the sky. This event confused some Fortnite players who play the game in parts of the world where it’ll be 2018 for many more hours. “2019 NEW YEAR LEAKED!?!?!” one player tweeted. “A NEW YEARS EVENT ALREADY? HAPPY EARLY NEW YEARS I GUES LMAOOO” another wrote.
A NEW YEARS EVENT ALREADY?
HAPPY EARLY NEW YEARS I GUESS LMAOOO pic.twitter.com/Jwmu1W1klP
— FaZe Thiefs (@Thiefs) 31 December 2018
Eventually, Epic Games Vice President Mark Rein stepped in on Twitter to remind fans that there are different parts of the world.
It’s already New Years Eve in the Christmas Island, in the country of Kiribati and it will soon be New Years Eve in Fiji. https://t.co/pJKMaPIatB
— Mark Rein (@MarkRein) 31 December 2018
Epic PR person Nick Chester was also forced to step in: “Woke up to learn that many Fortnite players are unaware of time zones,
“We’re an educational and international game.”