Epic has reworked Fortnite's storm behavior for the new season and added more zones. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to have the desired effect.
Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 2 recently went live and has since received an overwhelmingly positive response. Players love the new weapons, the map changes are nice, and the Battle Pass skins are pretty cool too.
The only thing that annoys many players is the revised storm system. We have an overview of the zones and the storm damage for you.
Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 4: New Storm Zones
While there were 9 storm zones in the last seasons, there are now 12. The first zone is now much larger and covers almost the entire map. No matter where you land, you shouldn't be too far from the zone's safety by now and can spend enough time looting.
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Also, the storm is now much less threatening and doesn't do any significant damage until later in the game. We have an overview of all values per zone for you here:
| Zone | Waiting time until the next zone | Waiting time until the next zone | Storm DPS (damage per second) |
| Zone 0 | 60s | / | / |
| Zone 1 | 120s | 120s | 1 DPS |
| Zone 2 | 90s | 90s | 1 DPS |
| Zone 3 | 105s | 90s | 1 DPS |
| Zone 4 | 90s | 90s | 1 DPS |
| Zone 5 | 60s | 60s | 1 DPS |
| Zone 6 | 60s | 60s | 2 DPS |
| Zone 7 | 60s | 60s | 5 DPS |
| Zone 8 | 45s | 45s | 8 DPS |
| Zone 9 | 30s | 45s | 10 DPS |
| Zone 10 | 0s | 40s | 10 DPS |
| Zone 11 | 0s | 40s | 10 DPS |
| Zone 12 | 0s | 60s | 10 DPS |
ZONES HAVE CHANGED Both time and sizes of zones have changedOverall time of game remains the same1st zone is pretty much the whole map1 DPS storm damage for the first 5 zonesW or L change? pic.twitter.com/wopk3eFa6C
— SBG (@somebodysgun) March 10, 2023
Moving zones at the end of a match also behave differently. They don't stray that far, making rotation less important and leaving more players alive at the end of the match - which annoys many competitive players.
Why Fortnite Players Hate Zoning
For the fans who grind chilled out pubs, the zoning change may not be that bad, or even be welcomed. However, the pro players take the changes rather negatively.
"The midgames are longer, slower, and more boring, and the endgames are shorter, messier, and impossible to follow," explains popular streamer AussieAntics, for example. Basically, this is exactly the opposite of what you want as a spectator and player.
Many pro players have criticized Epic for the new moving zones, saying they make the endgames less skillful and more "campy". It remains to be seen whether Epic will take the criticism to heart and still fall back on the old zone system.