By Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 2, also known as Lawless season, kicks off on Friday, and it offers us an early glimpse of something we thought we would have to wait until at least fall for: a fresh Grand Theft Auto installment. Not really, of course. Narrative is not collaborating with Rockstar Games here—they’re simply introducing a new urban environment in the game titled Crime City, and we’ll be spending a lot of our time this season pilfering items from vaults, armored trucks, the train, and more. Yep, sounds like GTA to me.
The timing is amusing, considering that the much-anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 appears to potentially release this year, a decade and two console generations after GTA 5 debuted back in 2013. Despite a genuine new GTA title finally emerging on the horizon, Narrative has beaten them to the punch with Lawless season.
Not convinced by the analogy? Let’s take a look at the season trailer.
The opening cinematic puts a strong focus on breaking into vaults and stealing goods; however, it’s quite different from previous heist seasons. In addition to vaults in buildings, we now have armored security vehicles and even a train that will serve as a moving vault you’ll need to blow open, guarded by turrets. In other words: we’ll have some missions reminiscent of GTA Online to complete during our battle royale matches.
But the key point, for the sake of this GTA comparison, is the atmosphere. While Fortnite enjoys its heist-themed seasons, they usually have been somewhat more sophisticated with an Ocean’s 11 vibe—whereas Lawless season has a grittier, raw feel akin to what GTA has always embodied. And because it’s Fortnite, there’s no specific intention of matching GTA’s irreverence—these two franchises share a similar disdain for everything.
Following last summer’s controversial Wrecked season, the idea of another vehicle-centric season may be disappointing for some. However, this appears to be a balanced approach, indicating a more measured expansion.