Fortnite EGO and ALTER: Who are they, and how do they fit into the Chapter 2 lore?

If you've been trying to follow the lore running through the game since the launch of Chapter 2, you'll no doubt have seen references to the Fortnite EGO and ALTER groups, and are probably wondering who exactly they are and what's going on with them. We've been drip fed clues about these mysterious entities through the long course of the current season, and with the arrival of Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 2 we're eager to see where the story goes next. If you want to know more about Fortnite ALTER and EGO, we've put together what we've seen so far and speculated what could be next for these teams in Fortnite.

What is Fortnite EGO?

Fortnite EGO is a military group that was introduced in Chapter 2 Season 1, and has members including Rippley, Cameo, Remedy, and 8-Ball. Their logo can be seen in various locations around the map, including the Fortnite EGO outposts and a crashed plane on an island to the north of Sweaty Sands. There are also plenty of EGO vehicles around, suggesting this group has (or at least had) a large presence in the area. There is speculation that EGO are either defending, or trying to get into the secret vault in the mountains south of Retail Row, and if you flip their logo upside down it does look somewhat like the vault entrance with mountains above it.

What is Fortnite ALTER?

Fortnite ALTER is another military group that arrived in Chapter 2 Season 1, with members including Sludge, Chic, Toxin, and Scratch. A number of the ALTER characters are reskins of the Fortnite EGO members, and are unlocked by completing the Alter Ego challenges. Although their logo and presence isn't seen around the island, they do appear in many of the Fortnite hidden letters in loading screens challenges. In these screens ALTER forces are often depicted battling with EGO, although at this point it's not 100% clear who is good and bad – we'll be honest though, an army of red Sludges does look pretty evil!

Are Fortnite EGO and ALTER joining forces?

Fortnite ALTER EGO — (Image credit: Epic Games)

As we've got closer to the end of Chapter 2 Season 1, a number of the Fortnite missions have involved a face off between the EGO and ALTER versions of particular characters. The reward for completing these challenges has been an additional style for those character which merges the two, with Remedy/Toxin and Rippley/Sludge spawning purple variants, while 8-Ball/Scratch and Cameo/Chic yielded gold versions.

Could this signal the formation of a third neutral force, that sits between EGO and ALTER and tries to maintain order between them? Or is this a merging of the two teams in order to tackle another, more dangerous foe? The answer remains to be seen, but we'll know more when Season 2 launches.