“Where we droppin’?” has likely been one of the most commonly used phrases this past week due to the release of one of the largest updates in Fortnite history on November 3—and it hasn’t disappointed.

This change has brought back the “OG” Chapter 1 map into the game, reviving popular locations such as Salty Springs, Pleasant Park, and Tilted Towers.

The game has “gone back in time” to Season 5 of Chapter 1, which was set in the summer of 2018. 

This season, called “Fortnite OG”, will be the shortest on record, ending on December 2 and lasting just under a month. This means that the weekly updates will be jam-packed, resulting in changes to the weapon pool, vehicles, and the map. The next update will be on November 9, bringing Season 6 to the game.

November 16 will combine Seasons 7 and 8 into one update, with planes, cannons, and the snow biome all planned to return.

Seasons 9 and X will return on November 23, bringing with it jetpacks, ballers, and heavy snipers.

Before the update, Fortnite had a slowly declining population due to very difficult matchmaking and many being turned away by the game’s very young, “immature” player-base.

One of these people includes senior Joseph Muñoz, who said,  “I dislike the community, but it hasn’t really changed and is just something you have to get used to.”

Many people love the new update, though, as millions of players of all ages have returned to the game to experience the nostalgic map. 

“It brings back lots of old memories of when I first started playing, and it’s fun seeing all the old locations back,” said math teacher John Bruno.

On Saturday, November 4, a day after the update, the game peaked with a total of 44.7 million total players, the most the game had ever seen, likely due to a mix of both OG players and newer players.

The game has almost completely reverted back to its July 2018 state—with the exception of certain mobility changes like sprinting and mantling. 

However, the major difference is that 2023 Fortnite comes with “Zero Build”, a gamemode without—you guessed it—building. 

This mode has become insanely popular among many casual players who seek to avoid the competitive nature and wide skill gap that the build feature produces.

Junior Caleb Dorsey said, “I never bothered to learn how to build seeing as Zero Build was a thing by the time I joined.”

“For me, the Build mode is just far too chaotic,” Dorsey said. “With Zero Build on the other hand, I feel like it’s a fair fight. Even if one has worse loot than the other, they can still come out victorious—I enjoy it a lot.”

This new update has not only changed Fortnite, but the gaming world as a whole. Never before was it imagined that Fortnite would, or even could bring the OG map back to life.

The game has given players the opportunity to go back in time—just like Fortnite—and reminisce on the simpler times in life, where their biggest worry was leveling up to Tier 100 in the Battle Pass.

Only downside? It doesn’t last forever! “It’s only gonna be around for like four weeks, so I wish I could play on this map a little bit longer,” said Bruno.

Whether it’s your first time playing Fortnite, or you haven’t touched the game in years, jump out of the Battle Bus, just one more time—I guarantee you it won’t be the last.