Fortnite’s new season launches with a flooded battle royale map

Epic Games has launched Fortnite Chapter 2 – Season 3, which freshens things up by flooding the battle royale island.

Players can navigate the waters by latching onto sharks using fishing rods.

Over time the water will recede, revealing fresh areas to explore and opening up the roadways, which will be populated with new vehicles.

According to the official blurb: “The Island has flooded, there are new areas to explore, Marauders to take on and… sharks to ride?

“Survive more than just the Storm. Adapt to the new flooded way of life on the Island. Watch your back! Defend yourself from new Marauders as they crash down onto the island and challenge your survival.”

The season launches with a new Battle Pass, which instantly unlocks the Fade and Ocean outfits. Aquaman will join later in the season.

The Battle Pass also provides access to Build-A-Brella, which lets you customise your own Umbrella glider.

Fortnite’s latest season-ending live event, The Device, flooded the game’s map earlier this week.

It was watched by 12 million players in-game, according to Epic, which said it capped participation “for stability” purposes, while 8.4 million people also viewed live via YouTube and Twitch streams.

“As we push the edge of what live-events can be, we’re improving systems so more of you can experience them in-game,” it said.

Epic will release Fortnite for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X this holiday season.

The battle royale game will also be among the first titles released with Epic’s new Unreal Engine 5. Fortnite is currently built with Unreal Engine 4 but it will be migrated to UE5 in mid-2021.

Epic said last month that Fortnite has over 350 million registered players and that in April, players spent over 3.2 billion hours in the game.

Over 12 million concurrent players also participated in a recent live Fortnite concert by American rapper Travis Scott.