‘Elon Musk buys Fortnite‘ has started to trend following the game’s huge season 11 event, which saw its map being sucked into a black hole. The live event, branded ‘The End,’ catapulted players into space in an event that was viewed by millions across Twitch, YouTube, and Twitter (watch it here). But while this is all going as planned for developer Epic Games, internet pranksters (and an old tweet from Elon) have led many to believe that the Tesla CEO has bought and subsequently deleted the game.
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The search term ‘Elon Musk buys Fortnite’ immediately started to trend on Google, with some players suspecting that the entrepreneur was behind the season 11 live event. The origin of these rumors stems from an old tweet from Musk, posted on October 19, 2018, in which Musk shared a fake news story titled ‘Elon Musk buys Fortnite and deletes it.’ The fake news story featured a fabricated quote from Musk, which reads: “I had to save these kids from eternal virginity.” Musk shared the story alongside the caption, “Had to been done ur welcome [sic].”
Had to been done ur welcome pic.twitter.com/7jT0f9lqIS
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 19, 2018
Shortly following the events of the Fortnite season 11 event, some used Musk’s old tweet to start a fresh batch of rumors. Though clearly poking fun at the situation, it seems that not everyone was in on the joke, leading many to take to Google to see if Musk was actually behind Fortnite‘s “deletion.”
It's was Elon Musk… pic.twitter.com/zZHJFLiTCI
— SCUF (@ScufGaming) October 13, 2019
A bit late, but seems like @elonmusk followed through on his promise.
RIP #Fortnite https://t.co/MniVwpa28o
— Complexity (@Complexity) October 13, 2019
Fortunately for Fortnite players, Musk hasn’t bought the game nor has he deleted it. While the live event did suggest that the battle royale blockbuster is going to undergo some monumental changes, it’s still in the hands of Epic ahead of its next season. Fans trying to log in are currently being greeted by an image of a black hole, so while it isn’t currently playable, it’s expected that Epic will roll out the season 11 update sooner rather than later.
