Fortnite Season 9: Here’s everything that’s new with update v9.00

Fortnite Season 9 welcomes players to the future with a new update that introduces Neo Tilted, Slipstreams, the Combat Shotgun and more.

Welcome to the future of Fortnite. A lot has changed today with the release of update v9.00 for Fortnite, which ushered in Season 9 of the popular battle royale game.

Before we get into what’s new, first check out the cinematic trailer for Season 9. The trailer picks up during last weekend’s in-game volcano eruption — which laid waste to Tilted Towers and Retail Row — and reveals the future of Fortnite after emerging from the survival bunker. It also provides a glimpse at some of the new outfits in the Season 9 Battle Pass.

So what exactly has changed in the future of Fortnite? Turns out quite a lot, actually.

Update v9.00 has brought numerous changes to the map, a new weapon (while sending others to the Vault), a new transportation system and plenty of other gameplay changes and bug fixes.

Neo Tilted, Mega Mall & other map changes

Out of the ashes and ruins of Tilted Towers and Retail Row — both of which were destroyed by the volcano — come Neo Tilted and Mega Mall. These two points of interest are easily the biggest changes in update v9.00, embracing the neo-futurism of Season 9.

Neo Tilted has arisen in place of Tilted Towers. With sleek architecture and bright neon lights, Neo Tilted looks like it was pulled straight from an 80s sci-fi movie.

While it was pretty obvious that something was going to replace Tilted Towers, it wasn’t clear what was going to be there. Neo Tilted, which is essentially just a reskinned Tilted Towers with essentially the same layout, isn’t exactly the most interesting direction Epic could’ve gone; however, it was an incredibly popular landing location, so I’m not surprised they brought it back in some form.

The structures seen in Neo Tilted are also available in Fortnite‘s Creative mode.

Mega Mall is another new location in Fortnite Season 9, replacing the destroyed Retail Row. Like Neo Tilted, Mega Mall embraces the future with a similar aesthetic.

Other notable changes around the map include the new Pressure Plant built near the volcano, which presumably powers these high-tech new locations; new structures added around Loot Lake, which was home to the Vault; and the remains of Tilted Towers scattered Junk Junction, finally giving it a bit of personality and meaning.

To help you navigate across this map, Epic didn’t add any new vehicles, but rather a completely new transportation method. Slipstreams, those massive circles in the photos above, are “tunnels of wind” that “passively carry players down the stream.”

As Epic explained, players are able to move faster and can change direction while traveling through a Slipstream, using directional input to gain velocity and bob up and down for higher speeds.