Fortnite events that can never return: the Unvaulting to The End

Fortnite is a game of big moments that you'll probably never see again. Here are 20 of the biggest in Fortnite history that I don't think will ever be replicated, from live events and limited time modes to map changes that reshaped how the game played.

Fortnite (2017) is developed by Epic Games.

The Unvaulting let Fortnite players vote on which weapon returned

The Unvaulting was one of the craziest events I ever played, and it happened in season eight, a long time ago. Fans were speculating about which weapon would come out of the vault. Instead of making the choice for us, Epic was brilliant and let the players vote in a giant event.

The vote ended with the original drum gun coming back and ruining the game once again. The Unvaulting was insane, but I seriously doubt it will ever happen again.

The Rise of Skywalker event put part of the Star Wars plot inside Fortnite

The Rise of Skywalker event was awesome, even if it gets memed quite a bit, which I understand. To promote the release of the film, there was a giant in-game event filled with Star Wars music, weapons, outfits and even the Millennium Falcon flying around.

The reason it got memed so hard is that a voiceover from Emperor Palpatine explained part of the Rise of Skywalker plot. If you wanted to fully understand why the Emperor returned to life in the movie, you had to play Fortnite, which was backwards. Still, the event was awesome, and there hasn't been anything like it since.

The Fortnite World Cup never came back

The Fortnite World Cup was one of the biggest esports events in the world. It was viewed by millions of people and had a prize pool of 30 million dollars, but it hasn't come back. Afterward, Fortnite faded away from the competitive scene.

Everyone has their own theories as to why the World Cup was canceled afterward. Whatever the reason, it was an amazing event.

The rocket launch was Fortnite's first in-game event

The rocket event, also known as the Blast Off event, was the first in-game event in Fortnite history. It took place back in chapter one, season four. A giant rocket took off out of the villain's lair and flew around the map in real time before smashing down and altering the entire map. This is also when rifts were first introduced to the game.

The rocket changed everything. Not only did it introduce new elements to the game, it also established in-game events as a major part of the Fortnite formula. The rocket event will never be replicated.

The Infinity Gauntlet LTM turned one player into Thanos

When Avengers: Infinity War was about to come out, Epic ran a limited time mode called Infinity Gauntlet, one of the most unique experiences ever. Early in the battle royale match, the Infinity Gauntlet would land somewhere on the map and transform the wearer into Thanos himself, with a giant health boost and a ton of abilities.

The loot pool was also altered to spawn only high tier weapons to help you take down the Mad Titan, although he usually won. The original mode was insane, but it was only in the game from May 8 to May 15 of 2018, and it never returned.

The Endgame LTM split players into Avengers and Chitauri

The next year brought something else. To accompany Avengers: Endgame in 2019, Fortnite added a limited time mode of the same name that was like an escalation of the Infinity Gauntlet mode. Players were divided into two teams, Avengers and Chitauri.

You had to collect the Infinity Stones from around the map while also defeating the Chitauri and their leader, Thanos. It was like a giant variant of the 50v50 mode with an awesome Avengers paint job. Much like the previous mode, it was only in the game briefly. It served a purpose at a moment in the MCU timeline, and then it never came back.

Ninja Las Vegas rewarded players for eliminating Ninja

One of the first LAN events for Fortnite was hosted by none other than Ninja himself. Instead of a traditional tournament, groups of combatants entered the match in waves, with bonus points awarded to whoever could kill the host.

Ninja Las Vegas was the very first major esports event for Fortnite. Even if you weren't a fan of Ninja as a player, you probably have to admit the event was cool. It helped boost competitive Fortnite into the spotlight at a time when people only saw it as a casual experience.

Kevin the Cube rolled across the map in chapter one, season five

I remember when the cube first appeared on the map, and nobody knew what to make of it. The community jokingly named him Kevin. He first appeared in chapter one, season five, and slowly rolled around the map. Every once in a while you could see him move in real time as he smashed through a new location.

Kevin briefly returned in seasons six and ten, but his original season five appearance is what most people remember him for.

The Infinity Blade was so overpowered Epic apologized for it

The Infinity Blade was a weapon that would only spawn once per match, and always in the same spot. If you got your hands on it, you were overpowered: you got a lot of health, great mobility and insane damage output. Let's all be honest with each other, it was completely broken.

It broke the game, and after just a couple of weeks Epic removed it and apologized for ruining the balance of Fortnite. People love when weapons get unvaulted, but the Infinity Blade was a moment that will never happen again.

The Butterfly event ended Kevin the Cube's story

The Butterfly event was another of the first major in-game events for Fortnite, and it took place on November 4 of 2018. It was the culmination of Kevin the Cube's story arc. Kevin left a lot of symbols while traveling around the map and finally cracked open.

He emitted a giant light and a large butterfly that flew around and completely changed the Loot Lake region of the map. The event was amazing, and it continued to solidify Epic Games' reputation for putting on an insane in-game live show.

The Marshmello concert is my favorite Fortnite concert

Back in 2019, Epic pushed the boundaries of in-game events even further by recruiting Marshmello, a popular DJ who is also a big fan of the game, and putting on a giant in-game concert. The event was attended by millions of players worldwide and probably introduced many new people to his music as well.

There have been a couple of other in-game concerts since then, but I think this one's probably my favorite. It was the original, and to me it was the most mind-blowing at the time.

Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, took on the whole Fortnite player base

At the time, Galactus was being teased as one of the next big villains for the MCU, but back in 2020 he was already the next big villain of Fortnite. On December 1 of 2020, players everywhere had to team up to do battle with one of the most overpowered villains ever created.

Thankfully, with the help of some Marvel superheroes, he was defeated. The event was a ton of fun, and it definitely made me think about what Galactus could be like in live action.

The Ice Storm covered the entire map in snow

In January of 2019, Fortnite completely changed its map in real time, right before our eyes, in a move we'd never seen. A few days before the event, the Ice King was seen hanging out at Polar Peak holding fragments of Kevin the Cube. At the same time, a countdown was added to every TV on the map, implying something big was going to happen.

When the countdown hit zero on January 19 of 2019, the Ice King unleashed his power, covering the entire map in snow and introducing some very controversial new enemies to the game. The aftermath was heavily criticized, but the event itself was awesome, and it was the first time we got to watch a new map be introduced right before our eyes.

Fortnite x Mayhem brought Borderlands' Pandora to the map

In the summer of 2019, Fortnite and Borderlands joined forces for an event that not only introduced new skins but also added a whole new location based on the Borderlands universe. The new area was called Pandora.

Being in Pandora would change your visuals to look more like Borderlands, and you even regenerated your shield just by standing around, which encouraged many people to visit it.

The Continental was a John Wick building in Neo Tilted

The Continental was part of Neo Tilted in chapter one, season nine. It was a building in Tilted Towers based on the John Wick film series, and it was chock full of Easter eggs. It wasn't there very long, but it was an awesome nod to the franchise, and players everywhere loved it.

I would love to see more buildings based on popular franchises. It's a cool way to give credit to other franchises without impacting the gameplay too much for those who may not get the reference at all.

Tilted Town disabled building entirely

Following the removal of Neo Tilted, a new area called Tilted Town seriously changed how the game was played. It had a Wild West theme, and building was completely disabled there, so you had to rely on your shooting skills and positioning alone to get you out of trouble.

Tilted Town was removed after that season, but if you were playing in season X, you probably remember it.

The meteor destroyed Dusty Depot

Here's one some players may not remember. One of the first big mysteries in Fortnite history was the appearance of a giant meteor in chapter one, season three, which hovered over the map as fans speculated about where it would land.

At the beginning of season four it finally touched down, destroying Dusty Depot and creating a brand new point of interest as a research team tried to clean up the aftermath. This was the first time a major point of interest was completely wiped out and changed, and it made it clear to players that nowhere on the Fortnite map was safe.

The End event deleted Fortnite for two days

At the end of chapter one, season ten, people were curious about what Epic would do next. Would we go to season 11, or start a new chapter? What happened was The End event, which culminated with Fortnite being completely deleted for two days. The event ended on October 13 of 2019, and the game completely shut down until October 15, which was unheard of.

Fortnite was the biggest game in the world at that point, and Epic had the nerve to shut the servers down and give you a black screen whenever you booted it up. This blew everybody's mind. It was genius. I seriously doubt they're ever going to do something like that again, but it was brilliant.

Operation Skyfire took more than four weeks to set up

Operation Skyfire went down on September 12 of 2021, and it has to be one of the most elaborate in-game events I've ever seen. I have tremendous respect for the amount of storytelling Epic Games has been able to weave into Fortnite's gameplay, and this event took more than four weeks to completely set up.

It was still relatively recent at the time, so I won't go into too much detail, but the event itself was insane, and it had a hefty impact on the game too. I was still getting back into Fortnite, and one of the reasons I wanted to give it another try was insane events like this. I don't know a single other multiplayer game that is on Epic's level.

The Final Showdown pitted a giant monster against a giant mech

Finally, there's the Final Showdown. Were you team monster or team mech? It was a giant, map-wide showdown between a giant monster and a giant robot, and the entire lobby got to watch and try to stay out of the way. It was like a game version of Pacific Rim, but from the perspective of a helpless bystander.

In the end, the mech prevailed, and the monster's skeleton became part of the map. This is still one of my favorite Fortnite events, and while it happened back in 2019, I haven't seen them do anything quite like it since.