Fortnite just kicked off its ninth season of Battle Royale — and there’s lots of new content for fans to enjoy.
The update includes a brand new Battle Pass with over 100 new rewards to unlock, a Slipstream wind transportation system, and brand new locations. There’s also new weapons and more.
Season nine gives Fortnite fans a taste of the future. Previously destroyed areas like Tilted Towers and Retail Row have been transformed with bright lights and skyscrapers, while air vents and wind tunnels give players a whole new way to move around.
Here’s everything that’s new in Battle Royale.
Slipstreams and Fortbytes
Getting trapped in the storm is a thing of the past in Fortnite season nine. You’ll now find wind tunnels and air vents dotted all around the map that launch you into the sky or carry you to other areas. And you can use them while inside vehicles, too.
When you’re inside a wind tunnel, you can change direction or drop out at any time, and experiment with bobbing up and down to be transported even faster. You won’t need to worry so much about carrying launch pads, gliders, or Port-a-Rifts.
There are even more reasons to travel around in Battle Royale, too. This update introduces Fortbytes — a series of collectible computer chips that decrypt mysterious images revealing what’s to come throughout season nine.
There are 100 Fortbytes to collect in total. 18 are available on day one, and Epic will add one more each day. You’ll find a list of available Fortbytes in the Challenges tab.
New weapons
In addition to the new locations, there are new and improved weapons to get your hands on, including:
- Combat shotgun: Semi-automatic shotgun that holds 10 shells and fires nine pellets with every round. Has 73/77/81 base damage and a fast fire rate. Reloads two shells at a time. Available in rare, epic, and legendary varieties.
- Tactical shotgun: Now has increased base damage of 71/75/79.
- Grenades: Returned from the vault for season nine.
Other weapons have also been adjusted slightly. It’s now harder to find the drum gun and boom bow after their availability was reduced. Some weapons and items, including a few fan favorites, have also been vaulted. Those include:
- Clingers
- Buried treasure
- Pump shotgun
- Poison dart trap
- Scoped revolver
- Suppressed assault rifle
- Thermal assault rifle
- Balloons
New Battle Pass
Every Fortnite season brings a brand new Battle Pass, and nine is no different. Just like its predecessors, this one offers more than 100 new rewards to unlock, including brand new skins, wraps, and more. Check out the video below to see what’s new.
Other improvements and bug fixes
The version 9.0.0 update also brings a whole host of bug fixes and improvements to the game. There are way too many to list here, so we’ve picked out some of the biggest:
- Improved frame rate on Nintendo Switch
- Batter tactical audio when inside structures
- Auto fire on mobile now works on vehicles
- Turbo building now works correctly after gliding
- Misplacement of launch pads in mid-air has been resolved
For the complete list of patch notes, visit the official Fortnite blog. When you’re ready, you can enjoy the season nine update on Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
