Epic Games have released the patch notes for the Fortnite Battle Royale v9.10 update , which goes live on May 22 on Xbox One, PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch and mobile devices. 

The v9.10 update is the first major update in Fortnite BR since the start of Season 9, since last week’s v9.01 patch was very much just a minor one.

Epic have already revealed quite a few details about this update, and you can find a breakdown of all changes and additions, as well as the full patch notes, below.

Fortnite Battle Royale v9.10 Patch Notes

BATTLE ROYALE

WHAT’S NEW?

Hot Spots Randomly selected locations on the map that have a high loot rate with an increase of Supply Drops!

Hot Drops are the latest addition to Fortnite Battle Royale in Season 9

LIMITED TIME MODE ROTATION:

SNIPER SHOOTOUT DUOS

Sniper Rifles only. Downed players are eliminated instantly. May the best aim win!

UNVAULTED SQUADS

Battle Royale gameplay with a limited set of weapons made up entirely of items that are vaulted in the standard modes.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS SQUADS

Close quarters combat with Shotguns & Jetpacks!

WEAPONS + ITEMS

• Shadow Bombs
  • Reduced availability from floor loot from .835% to .677%
  • Reduced availability from chests from 4.65% to 3.98%
  • Reduced drop count from 3 to 2.
    • Shadow Bombs have seen a lot of late-game use, and we wanted to encourage risk vs. reward when picking the item up. By leaving maximum stack size the same & reducing availability, the item’s potential remains the same but swapping a spot for it early on is riskier.
• Unvaulted Semi-Auto Sniper Rifle
  • Available in Vending Machines, Chests, and Floor Loot
  • Available in Uncommon and Rare variants
    • Since the Thermal Rifle and Scoped Revolver have both recently been vaulted, this week we wanted to bring back an oldie but goodie to round out the medium/long-range item line-up.
• Combat Shotgun
  • Reduced the availability from floor loot from 2.015% to 1.409%
  • Reduced the availability from chest loot from 2.183% to 1.846%
    • When compared to other items of similar rarity, the Combat Shotgun was dropping a bit too frequently. This change will put it closer in line with other items.

Bug Fixes

• Dropping part of a consumable item stack no longer interrupts using the consumable.
• Shadow Bombs correctly leave the players inventory when no charges are left.
• Shadow Bombs are consumed properly when quickly picking up a replacement item during activation.
• Combat Shotgun now applies appropriate environmental damage falloff.
• Ability to move is no longer lost if Rift-to-go was used with Balloons.
• The Bush now correctly attaches to players in specific animations, such as skydiving.
• Resolved inconsistent behavior while using Flint-Knock pistol during crouch.
• Air vent audio is now correctly removed upon on destruction.
• Boogie Bombs now properly prevent affected players from skydiving.
• Camera issues when exiting a Mounted Turret have been resolved.
• Remote Explosives will now open and close with doors they are stuck to.

GAMEPLAY

• Introducing Hot Spots!
  • Every match, select named locations will be marked in gold text on the map.
    • These Hot Spots represent the presence of Loot Carriers. Shoot down the carriers for additional high-quality weapons.
      • Minimum of one Hot Spot
      • 25% chance for 2 Hot Spots
      • 5% chance for 3 Hot Spots
    • Loot Carriers
      • Loot Carriers drop a weapon of Rare or higher quality along with two stacks of ammo.
      • Hot Spots will have between 12 and 16 Loot Carriers depending on the size of the location.
• Equipping the blueprint to start building has improved in high latency situations.
• Added crosshair dot while skydiving to allow for more precise map marking.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue with auto material swap canceling turbo build if the client can’t predict the material amount quick enough.
• Updated Environmental and Cozy Campfire Trap collision to better allow players to walk over campfires.
• Players can no longer fire/reload weapons while reviving a DBNO teammate.
• Contrails are no longer stuck on the player if they dropped from the bus directly into a Slipstream.

PERFORMANCE

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a regression in level streaming performance introduced in v9.0. This should significantly improve loading times for buildings, and reduce instances of players landing on low-LOD meshes.
• Reduced hitches shortly after landing, especially on lower-end hardware (e.g Switch)

AUDIO

• Improved enemy jump sounds.
• Reduced the time that it takes the enemy in-air audio loop to kick on, for better awareness of an enemy dropping in on you from above.
• Boosted the volume of nearby footsteps and landing sounds of enemies not in line of sight.
• Tighter spatialization of close-range pickaxe sounds from other players.
• Added clearer sound when an enemy confirms an edit on a building piece within ~2 tiles of your position.
• Removed glider audio tell for players traveling through a Slipstream.
• Your emote music is now prioritized over other players emotes in the front-end.
• Emote music is now full stereo when in the front-end.
• Added a new Headshot + Shield Break sound, for when the two events occur at the same time.
• Lowered the minimum velocity required to trigger a landing sound

Bug Fixes

• Walking up on the edge of a building piece plays correct material specific footstep audio.
• Enemy pickaxe sound now plays correctly from impact point and not from player using the pickaxe.
• The Boom Bow’s fire sound has been fixed to not cut off when switching weapons immediately after shooting.
• Firing weapons no longer lowers building sounds.

UI

• Changed “Return To Lobby” to “Leave Match”.
• Adjusted the “damage” color when taking shield damage back to an increased-contrast version of the original.
  • The intent is increased readability of current shield value immediately after taking damage, but red was causing players to believe they were taking more damage than they were.

Bug Fixes

• Party Leaders who left their party’s current match could start a new match and take the entire party with them.

SPECTATING

Bug Fixes

• Focus no longer changes when watching a server replay during the bus phase.
• Watching live games will no longer change players when joining the Battle Bus.

MOBILE

We’ve noticed iOS patches have experienced delays appearing in the App Store recently. Apple has stated that any application can take up to 24 hours to appear in the App Store. If no update is available, be sure to check our social channels for more info.

• Removed the HUD when respawning.
• We’ve made improvements to the UI by adding an exit button to the following:
• Squad Formation in the lobby
• Playground Match Options
• Events screen
• Removed vibration toggle settings for devices that do not support vibration.

Bug Fixes

• Players ammo count now correctly displays in all languages.
• The Mini Map has been adjusted to fit correctly in large team LTM’s.
• Bluetooth headset sound quality has been improved.
• The interaction loading bar no longer progresses counter-clockwise.
• Start Game widget in Creative no longer overlaps with the inventory hot bar.
• Phase Mode Button now correctly displays in Creative.
• FPS counter not being fully displayed on curved screens.
• Emote audio now plays for the full duration on the Nintendo Switch.
• Scoped weapon fixes:
  • ADS perspective could remain on-screen when switching weapons.
  • Player’s view could be inverted when aiming.

CREATIVE

WHAT’S NEW?

Fortnite x Jordan 

Show off your moves in the New York City inspired, Downtown Drop LTM by Jordan featuring Creative artists NotNellaf & Tollmolia. Launch off massive jumps, grind down city streets and collect coins to win!

Score big when you cop the Hang Time Bundle. Get the Grind Outfit, Clutch Outfit, and a challenge pack unique to the set.

Epic Games have announced a collaboration with Jordan.

Haunted Hills Theme

Create your own eerie islands using the new Haunted Hills theme! Includes several prefab and gallery sets for all your creepy creations.

Buildings and items from Haunted Hills can now be used in Fortnite Creative Mode.

ISLANDS

• Creative islands are now displayed in the minimap as well as the fullscreen map.

Bug Fixes

• Players are now able to change the island slot in their personal rift even after visiting an island with a high memory cost.

GAMEPLAY

• New “Fastest Time to Win” setting
  • Each round a winning time sets the new time limit for the following round.
  • After all rounds the winner is the team with the lowest time to win a round.
• Added Time limit options of 6, 7, 8, 9, and 12 minutes.

Bug Fixes

• Wrong team can no longer be declared the winner of a round.
• Players will now correctly spawn to spawn pads or checkpoints rather than in the air.
• Lobby music will no longer play on a continuous loop after winning a game.
• Players no longer need to press the same button twice in order to perform certain actions with a controller.
• Weapons will now be granted by the Team Settings & Inventory Device even after Team Rotation.
• Floor traps are now deleted along with their supporting floor even when a ramp is built over it.
• The pickaxe no longer swings involuntarily when swapping to the Phone while swinging.
• Jitter no longer appears on multiple assets on featured islands.
• Creatures are able to move through  archways from the Jungle Temple set.
• The island owner is no longer automatically declared the winner of a game as long as they have more health than the opponents.
• The winner of a game is now determined by Scoreboard Stat 1 rather than the total highest score.

CREATIVE TOOLS + PHONE

Bug Fixes

• The Phone will now target Barrier Devices for deletion.
• Old school and quick builder controls now function correctly with the Phone.
• The axis is no longer missing when rotating an object with the Phone.
• Players can select the Phone now when using a custom control scheme on Switch.
• Players can no longer destroy Holoscreens without permission while on another player’s island.

PREFABS & GALLERIES

• Added 6 New Prefabs
  • Haunted Hills Haunted Tomb
  • Haunted Hills Grim Ruins
  • Haunted Hills Abandoned Dwelling
  • Haunted Hills Hillshade House
  • Pirate Fort
  • Tomato Temple
• Added 5 New Galleries
  • Haunted Hills Gallery
  • Haunted Hills Prop Gallery
  • Haunted Hills Nature Gallery
  • Tomato Temple Prop Gallery
  • Catacombs Floor Gallery, which features catacomb floors mixed with dirt and mud.
• Added pieces to the Indestructible Gallery
  • More indestructible wall variants
  • Indestructible Ground Tiles
  • Indestructible Volcanic Rocks
  • Indestructible Hover Platform
  • Indestructible Neo Tilted Basketball Hoop

Bug Fixes

• The Basketball Hoop, from the Neo Tilted Prop Gallery, was replaced with a destructible version and the non-destructible version was added to the Indestructible Gallery.
• The Ruined Shops prefab name was changed to No Sweat Insurance Building.
• Grass no longer clips through the Rubble Piles from the Scorched Gallery.
• The following pieces no longer disappear when trying to copy/paste: Lucky Landing Roof Corner, Arctic Base Hangar Roof, and Hangar Roof Trim.
• Added player collision to the Mansion Rug, giving it the same properties as other props.
• Increased the preview volume size for the Neo Tilted Prop Gallery.
• Corner Diner Counter in the No Sweat Insurance building (formerly known as Ruined Shops) can be copied and pasted now.
• The Factory Walls Gallery and the Parkour Gallery blue preview volumes fit within their respective gallery sizes now.
• Objects from the Military Lights Gallery no longer display a black bar when viewed from behind on mobile.

DEVICES

• Added Grind Power Up Device:
  • Allows players to slide on any surface and applies spark effects to the player’s feet.
    • Effect Duration: 3 seconds, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, Infinite (Default: 3 seconds)
    • Disables Effect on Pickup: On, Off (Default: Off).  If On, if the player has the Grind effect active on them, collecting this power up will cancel it immediately.
    • Pickup Radius: On touch, .25, .5, .75, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5 (Default: On touch)
    • Time to Respawn: Never, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 1 minute, 1.5 minutes, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 5 minutes (Default: 15 seconds)
• Added Color Changing Tiles Device
  • Prop floor tile that will change to the team color of the player who touches it.
  • Starting Team: Neutral, 1-16 (Default: Neutral)
  • Time Until Reverting: Determines how long the tile will wait before beginning to revert to its original color.
    • Never, 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 5 minutes, 6 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour (Default 1 second).
  • Score: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 100, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000
  • Steal Score: Yes, No
• Added additional options to the Explosive Device.
  • Time to Detonation from Game Off, Start: 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 6 minutes, 7 minutes, 8 minutes, 9 minutes, 12 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes (Default: Off)
  • Proximity Delay: When proximity detonation is triggered, wait a set amount of seconds before exploding.
    • Options: Off, 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds, 4 seconds, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute (Default: Off)
• Added additional options to the Capture Device
  • Player Capture: Allows players to score points by remaining inside the capture area.
    • On, Off (Default: Off)
    • Each Player – Each player in the capture area earns points toward their team’s score.
    • One Player Per Team – Only one player from a team inside the capture area earns points toward their team’s score, regardless of how many other players from that team are in the area with them.
  • Player Capture Time: A player will earn points for their team each time they remain in the capture area for this length of time.
    • 1 second, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes (Default: 1 second)
• Added additional options to the Pinball Bumper
  • Knockback: Mega High
• Added additional options to the Collectables Gallery
• Added new object options: Amber Pyramid, Blue Pyramid, Cylinder, Shoe, Basketball.
  • Coin Object: Allows you to change the type of object to be collected without having to delete and replace the object.
  • Ambient Audio: On, Off. (Default: On)
  • Consumption Rule:
    • Self – when the coin is collected, it disappears for the collecting player, but remains for everyone else. (Default)
    • Team – when the coin is collected, it disappears for everyone in the collecting player’s team but remains for players from other teams.
    • Everyone – when the coin is collected, it disappears for all other players.
• Added additional options to the Objectives Gallery
  • Added 3 additional Objective objects:  Cylinder, Box, Sphere
  • Visible During Games: On, Off (Default: On)
• Added additional options to the Item Spawner
  • Run Over Pickup: Determines whether the item can be picked up by running or driving over it rather than using the interaction key.
    • On, Off (Default Off)
  • Item Visibility: Adjusts the size and height of the item’s projected image to make it more easily visible, especially from a distance.
    • 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x (Default: 1x)
• Added additional options to the Creature Manager:
  • Damage to Environment: None
  • Score: None

Bug Fixes

• Barrier Devices display correctly if a player is standing by them before a game starts.
• Pinball Flipper knockback effect now activates after the first bump.
• Resources can now be capped in the Team Settings & Inventory Device. The setting is called “Maximum Building Resources”.
• The “Very Low” gravity setting in the Team Settings & Inventory Device no longer requires a player to die before it is applied.

UI + SOCIAL

• Added options to the UI Settings menu for showing round winner screen and scoreboard screen during rounds based games.
• Added new screen to show the winner of a game.

Bug Fixes

• The main Battle Royale island’s map is now visible in Creative.
• Friend list panel will now display on iOS.
• Players will no longer be unable to open the main menu after opening social panel and scoreboard UI simultaneously.
• The button for Phase Mode will now appear on mobile.
• Server time is no longer displayed while playing a game.
• The “Start Game” widget no longer overlaps with the inventory bar on mobile.
• The score displayed at the end of a round now displays the summary of all rounds.

When does v9.10 update go live?

Epic have confirmed that the v9.10 update will be releasing Wednesday, May 22 at 1 AM PT / 4 AM ET / 9 AM BST.

• Read More: Exclusive Honor 20 Fortnite Battle Royale skin revealed

Because this appears to be a major patch, there will be an “extended” downtime for it, so expect servers to be disabled for quite some time following the update’s release.

As always, matchmaking will be disabled 20-25 minutes prior, so make sure to plan your gaming session accordingly.

Fortnite BR x Jordan crossover

Unlike most other updates, which usually include the addition of a new item or weapon, the v9.10 update will feature a new crossover promo event with Nike’s Jordan brand.

• Read More: KEEMSTAR announces return of Friday Fortnite tournaments, thanks to Banks and FaZe Clan

The in-game announcement screen was updated on May 21 to feature a teaser image for the crossover, with the caption: “Game recognize game. Drop in tomorrow.”

The May 21 in-game announcement screen teases the upcoming Jordan crossover event.

The patch notes confirm that as part of the collaboration, players will be able to play the new Downtown Drop LTM, which allows players to “launch off massive jumps, grind down city streets and collect coins to win!”

There will also be a special Hang Time Bundle, which includes a Grind outfit, Clutch outfit and a special set of challenges.

Hot Spots

Hot Spots are a brand new addition to the game, which sees a named location marked in gold text on the map. These Hot Spots have Loot Carriers floating above them, which when shot down drops “high-quality weapons” for players to use.

Each game will have a minimum of one Hot Spot, with a 25% chance of two, and a 5% chance for three. They will drop a weapon of at least Rare quality, and each Hot Spot will have at least 12 Loot Carriers.

Audio fixes and improvements

Another major aspect of the v9.10 update will be the series of audio fixes and improvements that will be implemented, all of which were announced and detailed by Epic on May 21.

In addition to the changes coming in v9.10, Epic also revealed what other audio-related issues they’ve been working on for the rest of the season.

What we’re working on for the upcoming season:

• Fix for footstep sounds on the edge of structures gives audio as if you’re walking on the ground.
• Better hear the approach of enemy players outside player-built structures.
• Improvements to issues of sounds dropping outside of player FOV.
• Improvement of close versus distant player gliding sounds, to help clarify distance of gliding enemies.
• Longer sounds properly playing during Replays.
• Improved differentiation of teammate verus enemy audio.
• Internal testing of binaural/HRTF solution that will be a great help to headphone players, as well as other spatialization improvements.

A series of audio fixes and improvements will be made in the v9.10 update.

Fortnite Battle Royale v9.10 update patch notes

Here are the early patch notes for the v9.10 update. We will include the full patch notes when they are made available by Epic, which is likely to be around when the downtime for the update begins.

Release 9.10 Audio fixes and updates:

• Switch audio dropout issues fixed for real- apologies, this was meant to be in for 9.0 but we had unexpected technical problems.
• Fixed location of close-range enemy pickaxe impact sound, so it plays from the impact point and not the player that’s pickaxing.
• Removed ducking of building sounds when firing your weapon.
• Lowered the minimum velocity required to trigger a landing sound; this helps prevent players from silently ‘bunny hopping’ up ramps.
• Added a new jump sound for enemies that’s louder than your own.
• Increased jump sound attenuation to match enemy footsteps.
• Reduced the amount of time that it takes the enemy in-air audio loop to kick on, for better awareness of an enemy dropping in on you from above.
• Boosted volume of occluded footsteps and landing sounds.
• Tighter spatialization of close-range pickaxe sounds from other players.
• Added a clearer sound when an enemy confirms an edit on a building piece within ~2 tiles of your position.
• Removed glider audio tell for players traveling through a Slipstream.
• Added a new “Headshot + Shield Break” sound, for when the two events occur at the same time. If a shield break is “CHINGSHH” and a headshot is “PA-CHING” then the new sound is “PA-CHINGSHH”.