Fortnite's big new patch, v10.40, is finally here. How big is it, you might ask? Well, it's big enough that Epic Games revealed two different, significant chunks of it in the form of individual posts about matchmaking and controller sensitivity prior to actually updating this morning. In addition to that, there's also a new Rift Zone, Starry Suburbs, Zone Wars limited-time modes, and more. There's a lot going on, and it'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out now that it's live.

Here's how Epic Games describes Starry Suburbs:

"Have you ever wished upon a star for great loot? Come to this new Rift Zone to make your wishes come true — shooting stars with powerful loot are landing here!"

Test your skill 🎯
Jump into the new Starry Suburbs Rift Zone or climb to the top of the leaderboards in the new Combine LTM.
Find out everything new in the Patch Notes: https://t.co/OuBslo2z6q

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) September 25, 2019

You can check out the full list of Battle Royale-relevant (weapons, items, and gameplay) patch notes below:

LIMITED TIME MODES:

ZONE WARS

Team Type: Solo | Respawning: Off

A simulation of the end-game scenario in Battle Royale — but with a condensed moving zone! Eliminate the competition as you avoid the Storm closing in. Randomized spawns and inventory items make each round unique.

You can queue with up to 15 friends.

• Zone Wars: Colosseum
  • Created by Jesgran.
  • Become the ultimate gladiator in a Colosseum-like island. This open-style island demands quick building.
• Zone Wars: Desert
  • Created by JotaPeGame.
  • Make your way through a small desert town to the final circle. A diverse set of weapons and mobility allow for unique gameplay and lots of replayability.
• Zone Wars: Downhill River
  • Created by Enigma.
  • Stay out of the storm as you move downhill through a river in this original-style Zone Wars island. Community launch pads and a consistent Storm path allow for familiarity after a few rounds.
• Zone Wars: Vortex
  • Created by Zeroyahero.
  • This island puts a unique twist on Zone Wars with its mountainous terrain to traverse. The elevation change from zone to zone can be quite drastic!

WEAPONS + ITEMS

• Explosive Batarang
  • Added an audio visualizer icon for proximity beeping.
• Shield Bubble
  • Shield Bubbles will bounce off other players when thrown at them.
• Unvaulted
  • Bouncer
    • Rare trap.
    • Drops in stacks of 3.
    • Found from Supply Drops, Vending Machines, Llamas, and Floor Loot.
    • Can be placed on floors, walls, or ramps/stairs.
    • Provides a jump boost in a direction perpendicular to its placement.
• Enabled the Batman Grapnel Gun and Explosive Batarang in Arena and Tournament playlists.

Bug Fixes

• Resolved an issue in which the Health bars of vehicles would not display.
• When a Junk Rift object hits a player wearing a Bush, it will no longer damage the player instead of the Bush.
• Using a Grapnel Gun to enter a Rift Zone will no longer prevent players from moving around while skydiving.
• Resolved an issue in which players could deploy a Glider while in prop form.
• Being in prop form no longer prevents players from being affected by the Explosive Batarang's homing.
• Explosive Batarangs will no longer float in the air after the object they are on is destroyed.
• Resolved an issue in which the Zapper Trap would not deploy at the location of the placement preview.
• Shield Bubbles attached to a Supply Drop will no longer disappear after the Supply Drop is destroyed.
• Shield Bubbles can no longer prevent fall damage.
• Shield Bubbles can no longer become stuck in the air.
• Resolved an issue in which Shield Bubbles would not attach to a vehicle when thrown by a player riding the vehicle.

GAMEPLAY

• Double XP Weekend!
  • Make this weekend double the fun. From Friday, September 27 at 9 AM ET to Monday, September 30 at 9 AM ET, you'll earn double the XP for the matches you play.
• Matchmaking
  • We've introduced improved matchmaking logic to core modes.
    • Players are now more likely to match with those of similar skill.
    • As players get better, so should their opponents.
    • We will slowly roll this out to core modes in all regions as we test and monitor how it performs.
    • Please see our blog post for more details.
• New Sensitivity and Aim Assist settings on controllers.
  • For the details of these, please refer to our blog post.
  • Note: When using the new Aim Assist settings, crosshairs turn red while pointed at a target that is within effective range, which is anytime before damage drop-off is applied.
• The Combine
  • This new playlist is a great way to get familiar with the controller setting improvements mentioned above!
    • Though The Combine is useful for this purpose, it can also be played using "Legacy" controls, mouse + keyboard, or touch.
  • The goal in this playlist is to reach the end as fast as possible while eliminating all targets along the way.
    • There are leaderboards that allow you to compete for the fastest time with friends or other players.
      • Each leaderboard provides options to sort times by your preferred input device.
• Starry Suburbs
  • A Rift Zone has brought back the ruined neighborhood near Pleasant Park. However, the Rift Zone has given it a homeowners' association — it's a nice place to live now!
    • The neighborhood is actually so nice that shooting stars make it their destination. Crush the stars to access powerful items, including a never-before-seen weapon!
• Moisty Palms
  • Players can now use the crouch input to exit prop form.
• Hitmarkers no longer display on teammates.
• Removed the Reset Camera control bind.

• Fixed an issue where players could use infinite sprays while in a Rift Zone.
• The building piece choice no longer resets to the wall option when players using a controller have the Reset Building option turned off.

*****

The entire list of patch notes, including Creative and Save the World changes and additions, can be found right here.

What do you think of the new additions to Fortnite? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming!

Fortnite is currently available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac, and most mobile devices. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the video game right here.