Unlike most live events in the battle royale, such as the recent Chapter 2 finale or the Ariana Grande concerts, there is no playlist that you can join for the New Year’s celebrations. If you log into Fortnite now, you won’t find any instructions on how to participate, or even an alert just to say that these parties are indeed happening.
However, rest assured that virtual shindigs are taking place. The only difference is that they are being integrated into matches this time around.
As aforementioned, you normally access Fortnite live events by joining dedicated playlists in the main menu, but on this occasion, you just have to load up a standard battle royale match.
In the lead up to 2022, a fireworks display will occur on the island at the beginning of each hour. To witness this event, you just need to be in an active game and (most crucially), you need to actually be alive to see it.
To increase your chances of surviving that long, we recommend that you either search for a match just before the minute hand strikes 12, or that you build yourself a little shelter and only emerge when the fireworks are about to go off. There is no countdown in the game, so you will just have to monitor the time yourself.
In terms of what actually happens for the live event, you will notice a time ball appear in the sky and slowly descend towards the ground. When it reaches a certain point, it will transform into a disco ball and everybody in the match will be compelled to dance.
This is an involuntary emote that can’t be canceled, and you will just have to watch as your character boogies for a few seconds. While that’s happening, nobody can use their weapons or attack, so it’s basically a momentary cease-fire.
A fireworks display will then go off around the island, culminating with an explosion that spells out “2022” in the sky. Once that’s over with, you can promptly return to shooting everybody in sight.
If you want to see a typical example of this New Year’s celebration, there is a video in the tweet embedded below.
In addition to the mini-event, there is also a special New Year’s bundle up for grabs in the item store right now. This includes a noisemaker emote, a 2022-themed article of back bling and a glittery glider.
The bundle is currently discounted from 1,100 v-bucks to 600, so if you are interested in purchasing it then now is a good time.
While Fortnite Chapter 3 is going to be ringing in the New Year periodically for the rest of the day, there are obviously firework shows taking place in real life too. For more information about these, check out our roundup here.
