Fortnite fans report worldwide outage following server hack
Fortnite players have been reporting server outages November 9, as an apparent hack briefly affected the game – preventing people from loading into a match.
High-profile players like SypherPK, Jaomock, and more along with various members of the Fortnite community chimed in to bring attention to the apparent attack.
It seems like the hacker group known as “Lizard Squad” are claiming the outages, saying they were “testing [their] botnets strength.”
Hopefully worldwide* testing our botnets strength.
— Lizard Squad (@UGLegion) November 9, 2019
Shortly after, the account started retweeting multiple instances of the Epic Game’s title failing to connect to in-game services, allegedly due to the group’s hack of the game.
The hacker’s Twitter account shows screengrabs from multiple players that show the game being inaccessible, along with people giving Lizard Squad credit for the downs: “damn u shut off Fortnite comp.”
While there are numerous instances of reported issues, the Epic Games server status tracker has “no incidents reported today” for November 9, confusing a ton of players.
:sob::sob: pic.twitter.com/JQi21sQ9q5
— Electro:jack_o_lantern: (@yepElectro) November 9, 2019
The server issues seemed to attract the attention from players all over, as some were calling for fans to rally to bring attention to the issue.
“Attention all Fortnite gamers the game is under attack and needs your help,” SypherPK said.
It’s unknown if the problem is related, but players competing in the second week of the Fortnite Championship Series for Squads have also been experiencing problems with the tournament’s servers.
Is there a statement from epic somewhere? Are we finishing this out? Did the first game count? Is the time going to be extended? What the fudge is happening lol
— Ninja (@Ninja) November 9, 2019
Players like Ninja, NICKMERCS, and WizKay are expressed their frustrations at the problems cropping up in the weekend’s tournament, though there has yet to be a response by Epic Games.
Read more: Ali-A explains how skill-based matchmaking is “killing” Fortnite
Some players are still wondering if the hack is on-going while some are already able to log back into the game.
It didn’t take long for players like Team SoloMid’s ZexRow to say that the servers were back, leading to a Lizard Squad conceding the attempted hack.
We can’t beat these guys @EpicGames GG to your security team https://t.co/1XymUpFHR8
— Lizard Squad (@UGLegion) November 9, 2019
“We can’t beat these guys,” Lizard Squad said in reply to ZexRow’s announcement that the servers were back online. “Epic Games GG to your security team.”
While everything looks to be working as normal, it remains to be seen if the group who claimed the Fortnite hack will look to attempt another attack.