Fortnite Season 9's New Map Areas: Mega Mall And Neo Tilted Towers

Fortnite: Battle Royale's Season 9 didn't come in quietly. In fact, as players who attended the Unvaulting event will attest to, it was quite an explosive transition into the new season. After jumping into the mysterious vault at the center of Loot Lake and then freeing the Tommy Gun, players were launched back into the sky above the island. There they watched as the volcano that appeared early in Season 8 erupted, destroying Tilted Towers. This was the setup for Season 9 and, now that it's begun, we finally have a look at what's changed--and it includes two major new named areas, Neo Tilted and Mega Mall.

Season 9 has a futuristic theme and, if you watch the trailer, you'll know that a few new areas have appeared to support this theme. The first is Neo Tilted, which replaces the Tilted Towers of old and has a very vibrant, city of the future vibe to it. There's neon lighting, floodlights piercing the sky with pearlescent beams, and a blimp floating about.

Neo Tilted is home to Slipstreams tunnels, which are a new type of map element. Players can leap into them and ride wind currents to quickly move around the map. Check it all out in the image below.

Another area that has appeared in the wake of the volcano's eruption is the Mega Mall, which replaces Retail Row. The Mall looks to be a little bigger than Retail Row and, like Neo Tilted, there is a Slipstream tunnel that snakes around it. All the stores you'd expect to see in a mall are present and accounted for, there's restaurants, toy stores, arcades, and more. Alongside the Slipstream, there are various air vents located around the Mega Mall, which are handy for getting around the larger space. Take a look at the Mega Mall in the image below.

Naturally, there are various other small tweaks to the map, but these two locations are the biggest changes. We expect players will be visiting them regularly, as Epic likes to tie new locations closely to weekly challenges. (Week 1 challenges include visiting all the sky platforms.) This season, there's an extra set of challenges focused on finding Fortbytes, a new pickup that will reveal the secrets of the season. You can learn more about Fortbytes here.

A new Battle Pass is also available, which means there's new unlocks to be had. If you're not familiar with how all that works, head over to our Fortnite Season 9 Battle Pass guide, where we explain what a Battle Pass is, how you can get one, what you'll get for having one, and more.