New Fortnite Season 3 Update Is Out; Here's The Patch Notes

Epic Games has released the next big update for Fortnite. Players on PC, PS4, and Xbox One have a variety of new content and improvements to check out in both Battle Royale and Save the World. Maybe most notably, the 3.0.0 patch kicks off Season 3 for Battle Royale, which includes the release of a Battle Pass with a slate of new rewards (such as those inspired by Guardians of the Galaxy and John Wick).

Battle Royale now runs at 60 FPS on consoles, and not just for those with a PS4 Pro or Xbox One X--this is also true of the base PS4 and Xbox One versions. This takes the place of the existing uncapped framerate mode, although developer Epic has added a 30 FPS mode as an option if you'd prefer an improvement to visual quality at the expense of framerate.

Across consoles and PC in Battle Royale and Save the World, Fortnite's building has been improved in a variety of ways; there is now an option to continuously build by holding a button, and another to have the game auto-switch between materials when you run out. Additionally, you can build right through most objects now, which should make the building process even easier. (We've got Fortnite building tips if you still need help.)

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Also new in Battle Royale is the Hand Cannon. This weapon uses Heavy ammo and features Epic and Legendary versions, and it can be found in treasure chests or supply drops or as floor loot. It's one of several changes on the weapon front, as grenades lose the ability to do critical hits, an exploit involving the pump shotgun and quickly switching weapons has been removed, and drop rates for various versions of the basic pistol have been changed. Additionally, the recently added crossbow has had its Valentine's Day-themed skin removed.

With this patch kicking off Season 3 of Battle Royale, the new Battle Pass has been introduced. This is purchasable only for 950 V-Bucks, rather than directly with money, and has even more rewards tiers than previous incarnations. Epic says it should still take a similar amount of time to unlock everything--you'll just get more rewards for doing so. Among the items available are the Back Bling cosmetics. You can see all the Season 3 Battle Pass rewards in our gallery.

Other small, Battle Royale-specific changes and additions include the ability to see the path of the Battle Bus on the map at the start of the round and 10 seconds of control being given to players after winning a match.

Improvements to building aren't the only things that affect both Battle Royale and Save the World. Epic has introduce a new orchestral score from Marco Beltrami (Logan) and Pinar Toprak (Krypton). This replaces the music in Save the World and plays while in the menus of Battle Royale. Additionally, optional colorblind support has been added, though Epic says it is a work-in-progress and is open to feedback from users. Other visual upgrades have also been made, including those to lighting and shadows.

On the Save the World side, the Hoverboard has been added as a new means of transport; it can be obtained through a tutorial and requires no energy to use, though it takes three seconds to summon and any damage suffered will knock you off. A new chapter of the Spring It On event is also now available, which includes new quests, activities, and the previously announced Dragon weapons.

All of this is now available in Fortnite following some earlier, unexpected downtime. You can see everything that's new in the full patch notes on Fortnite's website.