The future is looking bright for Fortnite Season 9. With Season 8 coming to an earth-shattering end, Season 9 has given the Fortnite island a glossy new coat of paint. Huge changes have been made to the game, with new weapons, locations, and more. Read on for a look at what’s in store for the futuristic Season 9.
Fortnite Season 9: First Look
The Future is Yours
Fortnite Season 8 ended with the island’s volcano finally erupting, spitting out massive lava boulders that totally destroyed Tilted Towers and most of Retail Row. In the chaos, Jonesy and Peely manage to make it into a bunker and avoid most of the apocalyptic destruction. Unfortunately, the pair soon find that the bunker doesn’t really have much in the way of food… and Jonesy is forced to make some tough calls about his companion to stay alive.
Jonesy is stuck in the bunker for an unknown amount of time, presumably many years. Eventually, the door opens and a scraggly, haggard looking Jonesy emerges to find that the apocalypse he fled is practically nonexistent. His rescuers are dressed in futuristic garb, and he looks up to get an eyeful of Neo-Tilted, a sprawling neon-drenched sci-fi city built on the ruins of Tilted Towers. Airships float through the sky overhead as Jonesy (and the players) take it all in. It’s our literal first look at the new, futuristic theme of Season 9.
Fortnite Season 9: All Battle Pass Skins
Read Now ►New Areas
Built over the wreckage of Tilted Towers, the largest and most central new area for Season 9 is the cyber-punk Neo Tilted. The city is characterized by its glowing neon signs and gleaming white buildings. Airships float around overhead, and the streets are littered with futuristic vehicles. The city itself seems to be powered somehow by the Vault that was revealed beneath Loot Lake; a massive power cable can be found connecting Loot Lake to the city. Layout-wise, players will recognize quite a bit of overlap with the old Tilted. The streets will seem quite familiar, but there are still plenty of new buildings and areas to explore.
Meanwhile, across the map, Retail Row has been rebuilt into the sprawling Mega Mall. As the name implies, this area is a massive, multi-story shopping center. Multiple floors with balconies offer plenty of areas to hide and explore, and new air vents act as jump-pads, allowing players to quickly move between Mega Mall’s buildings. The layout here is very different from the old Retail Row, so players might have to explore a bit to get a sense of the new area.
In addition, Sky Platforms now float above different areas of the map. There are seven in total, but each has the same layout. Four turbines keep the platforms aloft and allow players to float up to the platform itself. On the platform, a central control room and tower usually house several chests and other items. Slipstreams also offer a new method of traversal around the map. Slipstreams are essentially giant artificial air currents that allow players to quickly fly across the map and connect major areas. The Slipstreams can be found running in a circuit around Neo-Tilted, the Mega Mall, and in a central loop around the middle of the map. A scientific research facility has also been built inside the remnants of the volcano. Known as Pressure Plant, it offers a winding maze of corridors and rooms to explore.
New Items
A plethora of new items have also been added to the game with the advent of Season 9. The Drum Gun is back, having been unvaulted during the Season 8 finale. This cross between an assault rifle and submachine gun boasts some devastating short-range firepower, and is now a common find in chests and across the map.
The Combat Shotgun is also making its debut as a direct upgrade over the Tactical Shotgun. This semi-auto shotgun boasts a high capacity and firepower, and can be found in Epic and Legendary rarities as well.
Finally, the Shadow Bomb will be familiar to many Season 6 veterans. Taking the form of a grenade, players can use a Shadow Bomb to temporarily adopt a spectral form, allowing them to quickly traverse and jump across the map. Shadow Bombs are useful for making a quick escape from combat or sneaking up and ambushing unsuspecting players.
Fortbytes have also been added to the game as a new collectible. These new items are still pretty mysterious, but can be unlocked by completing certain milestones or challenges in game. It’s unclear what collecting all the Fortbytes will ultimately unlock, but for now, we know that they’re integral to unlocking cosmetic variants for some of the Battle Pass skins. According to the game, unlocking all 100 Fortbytes will reveal the answer to some sort of mystery.
These changes are doubtless just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Season 9. Keep checking back with Softonic for the latest Fortnite updates, weekly challenge guides, and more.
