Fortnite Season 11 Officially Takes The Form Of Chapter 2 With A New Map And Skins

Fortnite: Chapter 2 is finally here. Rather than take the form of Season 11, which would have followed the game's established pattern, Epic recently took Fortnite: Battle Royale offline entirely for more than a day, building anticipation for what would follow the black hole. Now, the game has returned, servers are back up, and there's a major new update out on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile. Among other things, the big highlight is that Epic has finally introduced a brand-new Fortnite map, rather than continuing to evolve the initial island as we've seen for the past two years. You can read on for the highlights or get a more extensive look at what's new in Fortnite: Chapter 2.

Conspicuously, Epic Games has yet to issue Chapter 2 patch notes. That seems to have been a deliberate decision, with it instead publishing a hilariously brief "what's new" blog post on its website that delivers no information. [Update: There's now a new update out, v11.00.1. This smaller update fixes a few issues that have come up, and you can read about the specifics in the patch notes that Epic has released. We still have not receive updates for the broader Chapter 2 update.]

There's no hiding the biggest addition to the game, which is the brand-new map. Water will be a big factor this time around, with new mechanics such as swimming, fishing (letting you obtain items, weapons, and ammo, provided you first locate a fishing pole), and motorboats added. You can also carry fallen teammates to safety or revive them using the bandage bazooka, which is essentially a rocket launcher that takes up two inventory slots and fires healing items at your target.

Additionally, Epic has revealed a new battle pass for Chapter 2: Season 1. It will of course include new skins, emotes, and weapon wraps, but it also offers more chances to earn XP and medals. You'll contribute just by searching chests, for example, or eliminating opponents or completing challenges.

Fortnite: Chapter 2 has been highly anticipated since the game went dark over the weekend. However, while people were expecting Season 11, Epic has instead followed up with Chapter 2: Season 1, indicating a fresh start for the game.