Fortnite Treasure Hunters trailer breakdown: every secret you missed

In short

• Confirmed: Treasure Hunters starts on Sunday 1 November at 9am ET (2pm UK time) on a new 80-player island called Crossbones Isle, according to Epic.
• Confirmed: Epic has named the Chapter 7 end event for Saturday 5 December.
• Spotted: the trailer hides a giant duck, half a Battle Bus in a tree, Blakebeard from Save the World and a glitching pirate logo.
• Our theory: the llamas, the X marks and the glitches all connect, and this hunt is leading somewhere much darker than a pile of gold.

The treasure hunt is about to begin, and Fortnite has revealed far more than it first looks. We went through all three teasers, then paused Epic's Treasure Hunters trailer frame by frame. Some of what we found makes absolutely no sense.

This is a Theory story: we'll say clearly what Epic has confirmed, and what's our own reading of the clues.

What has Epic actually confirmed?

Epic's official Treasure Hunters post answers a lot of questions:

• The island: Crossbones Isle holds 80 players, and you can launch across it from cannons.
• One Piece locations: Epic names Arlong Park and Windmill Village.
• A$AP Rocky's POI: a new battleship called the $.$. Rocky.
• The Battle Pass: Portgas D. Ace, Nico Robin, and new anime looks for Jonesy, Cuddle Team Leader and Charlotte.
• Captain X: Epic refers to "Captain X's mega chest", so the chest has an owner.

Captain's Days, when new weapons and Sprites drop on the map, land on 1, 7, 12, 14 and 21 November.

Key art 1: "Adventure awaits"

The first teaser came with just two words, and it has the most map information of all three. The art is split into shattered panels, each showing a different part of the new island.

• Top left: Luffy throws a Gum-Gum punch at the camera with Buggy behind him. Behind them is the new map, with a lighthouse, two docked pirate ships with blue sails, cherry blossom trees and huge sea stacks.
• Bottom left: a field of blue-domed windmills on a grassy cliff, which fits Epic's Windmill Village.
• The bear hood girl: a cyan-haired fighter in a pink bear hood swings a long katana. She's in every teaser, and the teddy on her belt suggests this is the anime Cuddle Team Leader from the Battle Pass.
• The wolf girl: a blue-haired, wolf-eared fighter leaps forward with a gold-engraved rifle, right in front of a full moon. Wolf ears, full moon. We see what you did there, Epic.
• Behind A$AP Rocky: the glass shatters to reveal Geno, with dark armour, glowing red eyes and a mysterious diamond floating beside him.
• Jonesy: behind him is a treasure map with a big red X. You'll be seeing a lot of Xs.
• Bottom right: the giant chest, with a little skull chest with glowing red eyes sitting on the gold. It looks like it's watching us. Mimic chests, anyone?

Key art 2: "Say hello to some of our newest recruits"

This is the classic in-game line-up, and it matches Epic's Battle Pass list closely: Ace, Nico Robin, Jonesy and Cuddle Team Leader, with the sword fighter very likely being Charlotte. The masked figure at the back is the one to watch.

• A Devil Fruit: the bear hood girl is holding a purple fruit with an unmistakable swirl pattern. Epic has now confirmed you can fight with Luffy's Gum-Gum Fruit, so Devil Fruits are real items.
• The cat: Jonesy is holding a chubby cat with an eyepatch, peeking out of a chest of coins. That has to be a back bling or a pet.
• The skirt: the sword fighter's skirt reads 天下無敵, which roughly means "invincible under heaven". She's not messing about.
• The balloon: a hot air balloon with the Straw Hat Jolly Roger carries a whole pirate ship. TechWiser reports the Going Merry replaces the Battle Bus.
• The new chest: a skull and gems, and it comes back all over the trailer.
• The golden duck: next to a golden crown there's what looks like a golden duck statue. Remember that.

Key art 3: "The hunt begins November 1!"

The latest teaser is fully hand-drawn anime, and every character is lunging for the same thing.

• The lock: two thin blue beams cross over the skull to make an X.
• The statues: the chest's corners are llamas with glowing pink eyes. Hold that thought.
• The masked figure: black and gold helmet, slit eyes, one enormous golden hand reaching in. He isn't fighting anyone. He's presiding over the whole thing, and we think this is Captain X.
• The tiger: top left is a white tiger with gold claws, who looks like Oscar. His white coat with gold epaulettes looks a lot like a One Piece Marine admiral's.
• Top right: the bear hood girl again, beside a character with massive spiked hair, face tattoos and writing across the spikes, who could be Lil Uzi Vert.
• Teto's armband: it says 0401, the 1st of April, a nod to Kasane Teto starting life as an April Fools' joke.

Every secret in the Treasure Hunters trailer

The chest has followed us

The art style is far more anime than Chapter 7, and the giant chest has clearly followed us to the new island.

The Baratie

The Straw Hats approach a new POI with the Baratie, Sanji's floating restaurant, docked up. It sits in the bottom right of the island. Look closely and you can see motorboats, so they look unvaulted, plus a Buoy Bois sign on the town behind.

A$AP Rocky's battleship

This is the $.$. Rocky, and it looks like a heavily militarised take on The Yacht. Take a closer look at the ship and there's plenty going on:

• The helicopter looks like it's tied down.
• The gym on board appears to have half a red bicycle in it, for some reason.
• There's half a Battle Bus stuck in a tree nearby.
• The huge blue and grey cannons look like props reused from Reload's Elite Stronghold map.

"Don't be dumb"

Remember A$AP Rocky's launcher from the first teaser? Jonesy is holding one with "DON'T BE DUMB" written on it, which is solid advice. It looks like A$AP Rocky's Shock Rocket, which Epic has confirmed. There's also a purple glow around Jonesy here, and purple charges floating behind him in the next shot, which could mean Shock Rocks from Chapter 7 Season 3 are coming back.

Beach Brutus and Blakebeard

Beach Brutus' head pokes out of a cannon while a random Whiplash drives straight off a cliff. Rest in peace. Then the camera pans to Hope and Jonesy in their new outfits, and it looks like Blakebeard and his crew are here, the pirates from Save the World.

Miku, Teto and a location twist

You'd assume Cap'n Hatsune Miku and Kasane Teto are running through the pirate town where their ship is parked. Look again. They're on grey stone, not dirt, and the roofs don't match. We think this is a heavily changed Twinkle Terrace from Chapter 6.

The volcano cave

No prizes for finding this giant cave on the map. We never see the outside of it, but the dark grey ash suggests this used to be a volcano.

The quick ones

• The lighthouse: the one from the first teaser is in the background behind Jonesy, and it's easy to find on the map.
• What launched this player? A small fire-like explosion sends someone soaring out of shot with a trail behind them. It isn't a Shockwave or an Overdrive grenade. Your guess is as good as ours.
• New pirate chests: the chest from the second teaser sits right where normal chests spawn, so every chest may have been replaced.
• Wonkeeland survives: that looks like one of Wonkeeland's Treasure Cannons, with particles starting up as someone uses it.
• The Great Turtle: the giant turtle from Chapter 6 is back.
• The fish skeleton: islanders have hauled an enormous fish skeleton out of the water with a giant crane. Ew.
• Beach cabins: there are rainbow rental cabins on the beach behind the chest.
• Two more mysteries: a floating white object with a beam of light above it, and a strange orb.
• The docked ships: one at the bottom of the map is very pink and cyan, possibly linked to a Syd remix. The other is still a mystery.

Trailer tomfoolery

Epic is having some fun with geography. Luffy, Zoro and Buggy start out in the Nightshift Forest-style area, then the very next shot is suddenly a desert, with completely the wrong trees.

Then Luffy launches himself at the camera, apparently straight to the giant chest. Compare those two spots on the map and that's completely impossible. We weren't aware Luffy could teleport.

The giant duck

Near the end, the crew runs away from a gigantic pirate duck ruin wearing an eyepatch. Remember the golden duck from the second teaser? This one reminds us a lot of Cluster, and it's easy to find on the map.

Who is hacking us?

There's a recurring interruption all through the footage: a pirate logo glitching across the screen, with binary text around it in other promo. We don't know who or what is hacking us, but it's probably bad.

Connecting the dots: our theory

Here's where it all comes together. Remember, this part is our theory, not something Epic has said.

• Captain X is running this. The masked figure looms over the chest in the teasers, and The Click reports that Captain X left billboard messages around the world. His identity is still unknown.
• The X is everywhere. The beams across the lock, the red X on Jonesy's map, and the name Captain X itself. All roads lead to that chest.
• The llamas are the big one. The statues on the chest are llamas, and we think the glitching logo is too. So whoever is hacking the footage might be connected to the treasure itself.
• Geno is behind the glass. Add the shattered panel and that mysterious diamond, which could hint at someone's return.

Epic has told us to keep Saturday 5 December free for the Chapter 7 end event. We don't think this treasure hunt is just about gold. We think it's leading somewhere much, much darker.

What we don't know yet

• Who Captain X really is, and whether he'll be a skin.
• What's inside the mega chest.
• Who or what is behind the glitching logo.
• What the diamond next to Geno means.
• Exactly how long the servers will be down before the 9am ET start.

FAQ

What time does Fortnite Treasure Hunters start?

Epic says the season kicks off on Sunday 1 November at 9am ET, which is 2pm in the UK.

What is the new Fortnite map called?

Crossbones Isle, a new island for 80 players.

Who is Captain X in Fortnite?

The masked character behind the mega chest. Epic hasn't revealed who he is.

When is the Fortnite Chapter 7 end event?

Epic says to keep Saturday 5 December free. It hasn't given a time yet.

Which One Piece skins are in the Battle Pass?

Portgas D. Ace and Nico Robin. Luffy, Nami, Usopp, Zoro, Sanji and Buggy are coming to the Item Shop.

Watch: our full breakdown

See every one of these secrets on screen, shot by shot, in our video.

Who do you think Captain X really is, and what's inside that chest? Send us your theories, and sign up to our newsletter for our full breakdown when the season goes live.