SALT LAKE CITY — The eighth season of “Fortnite” has begun.
“Fortnite” released its season 8 update on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning to gamers everywhere. The update added significant changes to the map, a new list of rewards and items for the season 8 battle pass, and a new weapon that will have pirate fans cheering for more.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what’s arrived.
New trailer: “Fortnite” released a season 8 cinematic trailer that kicks off the new season.
- The trailer includes a pirate coming ashore in search of a glowing treasure chest.
- The Ice King, who was the villain from the seventh season, sees the treasure and heads out to find it, too. Lastly, the Prisoner, who was captured by the Ice King in season seven, flies out of a volcano to the treasure chest. All three characters meet at the chest and battle it out from there.
- The description from the video’s YouTube page reads, “Freed from the Ice King’s castle, the now-powerful Prisoner has brought fire and flame to 'Fortnite' and its islands. Pirates, Ninjas and a ship load of new fighters will tussle over treasure, battle with Pirate Cannons and uncover legendary loot.”
Battle Pass: Like every season before it, “Fortnite” launched a new Battle Pass of reward items, including character skins, rewards, dance moves and more.
- The trailer for the Battle Pass explains what you can expect in the new season. As the trailer explains, Battle Pass owners immediately receive the Blackheart pirate character and the Hybrid ninja character. Both of those characters can level-up with new styles as you progress through the game.
New locations: “Fortnite” added two new locations in the northeast section of the map where Wailing Woods used to be (confirming a running fan theory about the future of Wailing Woods). Those two new locations are Lazy Lagoon and Sunny Steps. Lazy Links has been eliminated from the map.
Lava: Watch out for lava. A volcano erupted in the game, sending rivers of lava flowing throughout the island. Stepping on the lava gives gamers one point damage. However, you can use the volcanic vents to launch into the air, according to The Verge.
Pirate cannon: You can now send fellow players across the map using a pirate cannon or a cannonball. It’s the game’s newest weapon.
Pirate ships: Given the adventure theme, there are new pirate ships to explore for loot and items to use in the game.
Party assist: According to TechCrunch, “Party Assist” mode gives players a chance to complete challenges together.
Gone: A few weapons and items were “vaulted” or eliminated from the game, including the Sneaky Snowman decoy tool, the Chiller Grenade, the X-4 Stormwing plane, the shopping cart and the All Terrain Kart.