A new season of Fortnite is almost upon us, as Chapter 6, Season 4 ‘Shock ‘N’ Awesome’ comes to PS5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2 and Android.
Adding a boatload of new weapons, items, skins and locations, Fortnite Season 4 has an August 7 release date.
The new season will launch after a period of server downtime, which begins at 7am BST UK time. Matchmaking will be disabled roughly 30 minutes before downtime, so you’d better hurry if you want to max out the current Battle Pass and earn those rewards.
You can check out the Fortnite Chapter 6, Season 4 gameplay trailer below.
The news was announced by Epic Games on X, alongside a teaser about what fans can expect from the new season.
“Calling pest control!” reads an Epic Games tweet. “Downtime for v37.00 begins at 2 AM ET with matchmaking ending shortly beforehand.”
In addition to announcing the downtime, Epic Games told PC users that the update will be far bigger than usual.
“Please note: The new Season’s PC update will be larger than usual Season releases,” Epic adds.
Likewise, Epic Games has also confirmed that pre-loading is available on Xbox and PlayStation consoles from 1am BST UK time on August 7. This means you can start playing the moment downtime comes to an end.
Needless to say, a new Fortnite season introduces a brand new Battle Pass, complete with a selection of new skins.
As you can see from the images below, the new skins include Yoo-mi, Agent Patch, Battle Gamer Mae, Lt. Ripp Slade and Onyx Winter.
That’s on top of another Halo skin, titled UNSC Spartan, which is instantly unlocked after purchasing the Battle Pass.
But arguably the main event is the addition of the Green Ranger from the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Fans can also unlock the Dino Megazord Outfit by completing challenges beginning on September 16.
Outside of Battle Pass skins, the new season introduces new map locations, which you can see on the image above.
It all begins with the addition of The Hive, O.X.R. HQ and Ranger’s Ruin. The Hive is of particular interest, because it’s home to a swarm of bugs that have infested the island.
Bugs include the small and speedy Swarmers, as well as Bombers that creep up on enemies and let “loose a goop lob from afar”. There are also the gigantic Queen enemies, which are bigger than many buildings.
Fortunately, players will have new weapons to use against the monsters. This includes the Bug Blaster, the Leadspitter 3000 minigun, Sweeper Shotgun, O.X.R. Rifle, Wrecker Revolver, and the Swarmstrike rocket launcher. You can even call in an airstrike.
Later in the season, fans of the Power Rangers will be able to discover the Blade Blaster. Likewise, fans will also be able to pilot the Hammerhead Choppa later in the season. This chopper will automatically glide for a few seconds while players switch to the other seat and lay down fire.