Throughout most of its four-year history, Fortnite has steadily evolved itself. With plenty of meta changes, feature additions and removals, as well as a rotating list of weapons and items, the battle royale title manages to retain its relevance by making near-constant adjustments to its formula. This appears to be the case for the next Fortnite season, which will see a new type of animal arrive on the island.
The ever-popular battle royale title is in the final weeks of not only its Season 8, but its second chapter altogether. With Fortnite's "Cubed" season literally coming to an apex point in the form of The Convergence, Chapter 2 is set to go out with a bang. The Chapter 2 finale, "The End" recently revealed its start time and end date, which is supposed to extinguish all lifeforms. Whether or not that happens, at least one animal will be found in the aftermath.
Reputable Fortnite leaker and dataminer HYPEX is revealing the latest animal to be added to Epic Games' free-to-play title. Posted onto their official Twitter account, HYPEX details the leaked information. According to the leaker, Seagulls will be the next animal coming to Fortnite. They reveal that the seabirds are featured in a piece of concept art for Chapter 3 set in a tropical or beach environment, which may indicate a new region found in the next chapter's map. HYPEX says while they're uncertain about when Seagulls will actually arrive, the running theory is for Season 1.
The addition of seagulls continues to expand Fortnite's list of animals, marking the 11th animal in the game in total. First introduced in Chapter 2, Season 3, Fortnite's animals can be interacted with in a variety of capacities. Supply Llamas and Loot Shark are the longest-tenured fauna on the map, with a host of tamable animals added during Season 6. The most recent addition is Crows from the current Season 8, which have the potential to drop valuable loot when eliminated. There's no word on how seagulls work, so players will have to keep an eye out in the future.
The addition of seagulls to Fortnite certainly sounds interesting, but it pales in comparison to another Chapter 3 rumor. According to a different leak, which also comes from HYPEX, a new throwable axe weapon is coming in Chapter 3. The leaker has zero information regarding the new weapon, save for screenshots of the rendered model. The axe features blue accents and is adorned with Meowscles stickers, which could indicate some sort of connection. Based on the word "throwable," some fans are guessing it could be God of War's Leviathan Axe, though nothing is confirmed.
The pair of leaked pieces of content seems like a strong indicator that Fortnite will again change up its formula for the incoming Chapter 3. It may just be the biggest meta shift the game has seen in years, if the rumored sliding mechanic gets implemented.
Fortnite is free-to-play on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
