https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fortnite-season-5-start-date-is-set-as-rift-cracks/1100-6460046/ > Epic Games has revealed when Fortnite: Battle Royale Season 5 will start. In a post on the game's Reddit page, the company confirmed Season 5 will begin on July 12 at 1 AM PDT / 4 AM EDT / 9 AM BST / 6 PM AET. To help people unlock remaining Battle Pass rewards for Season 4, Epic is awarding double XP for matches from June 29 until July 2. [Update: Double XP might have ended, but the next step of the rocket saga has occurred, as it launched into the air and caused cracks to appear in the sky.] > Ahead of the new season, Epic has released a new mode for Fortnite. Introduced as part of the latest update, the Playground LTM is essentially a private server for players to experiment on. It's designed for players to jump in and hone new strategies or sharpen building skills. Since access is invite only, you can do these things without being ruthlessly gunned down by enemy combatants.