Fortnite's third season launches with a major patch, rocketmen (and women) and Not John Wick
Spaceflight is getting so commercialised
The Kaiju-scale conflict between multiplayer behemoths Plunkbat and Epic's Fortnite escalates just that little bit further, as Fortnite (and its free-to-play Battle Royale spinoff) begins its third season of live content, accompanied by a very lengthy patch log and a suite of new costumes and equipment skins to either buy or earn through the latest Battle Pass. Within, some patch highlights, a trailer featuring space-folk, silly dances and a sharply dressed hitman who looks just different enough from Keanu Reeves to avoid legal trouble.
Space-chic seems to be order of the day for Fortnite's third season, with a collection of snazzy spacesuits and helmets available, along with a few space-age mining picks and glider skins. The extensive patch notes stretch on for what feels like forever, but the biggest changes include an overhaul to the building system, allowing you to build through/around objects, meaning a lone tree will no longer stand as an obstacle to a massive fortress.
The game is now also accompanied by an orchestral music score, and they've added a very impressive suite of colour-blindness tuning options to help players alter the balance until they can distinguish between all the core elements in the game. Battle Royale now features a new weapon type, the Hand Cannon, and grenades have been nerfed a bit, removing their ability to deal critical hits.
It's not just the Battle Royale side of the game getting some love with this update, either. The less popular Save The World mode (the co-op zombie-blatting campaign) has seen some updates as well, including the addition of hoverboards. The proper Back To The Future kind, not the rubbish sawn-off Segways that were all the rage for about ten minutes. This behaves like a mount would in most MMOs, giving you a fragile but speedy way to cross large distances without draining stamina.
As for that exceptionally stylish John Wick-esque character skin, it's a treat reserved only for the most dedicated of Battle Royale players. Not only will you have to buy the Season 3 Battle Pass (approximately £8/$10), but you'll have to grind all the way up to reward tier 100. On the plus side, you can be fairly sure that anyone who legitimately earns this skin will be roughly as deadly as their character model would imply, so you might want to avoid taking lazy potshots at them or any nearby puppies.
Fortnite's Battle Royale mode remains free to play as always, while the Save The World campaign is currently on sale, down to £17.50 from its usual £35 price-tag. Unless you already have a bunch of V-Bucks (Fortnite's premium currency) sloshing around, you'll also need to put down £8/$10 to get in on the Battle Pass ladder for this season.
Still trying to get to grips with Fortnite? Check out our Fortnite guide hub for more tips and tricks for the game. You can also find the latest challenges in our Fortnite week 6 challenges guide.