Fortnite season 6's v6.00 patch notes and spooky opening trailer

As Fortnite season 6 arrives, Epic has released the patch notes for the v6.00 update, with map changes, pets, new consumables and a Halloween-ish theme that's been dubbed 'Darkness Rises' by Epic.

"Islands floating, crops growing, Storm approaching," is how Epic describes the changes to the map. You can get a little sample of that in the trailer above: now you've got Loot Lake's now-floating island to explore, a haunted castle, corn fields, Wailing Woods and corrupted areas. They also tease more new places out there to find yourself. Here's the new map:

A new consumable, called Shadow Stones, has also cropped up around the map in corrupted areas, which turn your character into a ghostly figure for 45 seconds. In Shadow Form, you won't be able to use weapons, but you'll be invisible whenever you're not moving. Instead of attacking with the primary fire button, you'll use an ability called phase, which will let you pass through objects. If you aim down sights, you can cancel the effect early. 

You'll also be able to get pets in Fortnite now as part of the Battle Pass, called Bonesy, Scales and Camo. Epic says they'll react to whatever situation you'll find yourself in, and the important thing is that one of them (presumably Bonesy) is a dog. Here they are, the cuties:

Purchasing the battle pass for 950 V-Bucks gets you two new outfits right away—Calamity and DJ Yonder, which can both be progressed. The light machine gun, Bouncer, remote explosives and Impulse Grenade have all been vaulted in Fortnite season 6, although they'll all still be available in Playground mode.

In terms of more granular stuff, Epic has fixed a rare alt-tab crash error. PS4 players, who can now access cross-play with other platforms, will be put into PC matchmaking if using a mouse and keyboard. They've also added momentum to grapplers and timing tweaks to the storm circles. Check out the full list of patch notes here, and check out the battle pass trailer below: