Last-minute Fortnite change hints at inevitable Season 4 delay

If everything goes according to schedule, Fortnite Chapter 2 – Season 3 will end on August 27. Players, of course, are suspicious of this date — Epic has repeatedly experienced new season delays over the past several months, having extended its current Season 3 arrival multiple times before it finally dropped. Though there haven't been any Season 4 delay announcements, a recent Season 3 change hints at what may be inevitable.

We've known since the Chapter 2 – Season 3 debut trailer that players will eventually get new vehicles to drive around the island. The cars would obviously only arrive after the water had receded enough to expose the roads and bridges, and the time was nearly upon us. The release of game version 13.30 this week had raised hopes that cars would arrive, but that didn't happen.

Instead, Epic removed all of the cars from the game with few exceptions, such as the burned car located in Sweaty Sands. This wasn't just a fun troll to tease players — Epic later arrived with an official tweet on the matter, using a playful message about the Fortnite universe insurance company and its need to tweak some policy documents before cars can be deployed on the island.

Fender bender? #NoSweat.
Run out of gas? That's not covered.

Our lawyers are currently sweating the policy details and fixing typos like 'otter coverage' instead of auto coverage. Due to this, many vehicles got taken for inspection.

Expect a few weeks until we're road ready. pic.twitter.com/6YdPara80q

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) July 23, 2020

In case the intent of the message isn't clear, here's the TL;DR: cars aren't coming to the island any time soon. The update that will bring cars appears to be at least a month away, meaning they would arrive in an update only days before the end of Season 3. This leaves us with only two logical possibilities.

Either the cars will remain in Fortnite beyond Season 3, which wouldn't be too surprising given how late they are arriving in the season. Or the game's third season will be, like the two before it, extended and the fourth season will arrive in September or beyond.

This would likely upset some players who have previously complained about the staleness of the game that comes with such extensions, but the late arrival of a major game change — drivable cars — would likely prevent that issue. Only time will tell when the cars ultimately arrive, however, and whether Epic extends season three at the expense of its season four release.