Fortnite Chapter 2, Season 3 brought some pretty major changes to the game, flooding parts of the map and replacing the storm with a tsunami. With the launch of the Summer Splash 2020 update on Tuesday, the aquatic theme surges onward. In fact, data-miners have discovered a brand new Atlantis-esque underwater area within this latest update that could rise from the sea in a future Fortnite update.
The data-mine, which first popped up on Reddit on June 30 and was subsequently spotted by Eurogamer, reveals that a new area called The Ruins in the northwest corner of Fortnite's map exists, but it just hasn't been unveiled yet. This new spot should appear by August as the water levels continue to recede.
As you can see from the image above, Fortnite's map will become significantly less flooded as the season progresses. Some rivers and large bodies of water will remain, but The Ruins seems like the biggest change to the map. As we mentioned, this area will reportedly be added towards the end of Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 3, so we don't know how long it will stick around.
If this is a new area tied to this season, Eurogamer points out that the area could be themed around Aquaman and Atlantis. Aquaman was added as a skin at the start of Season 3, so it would make sense for Epic Games to give Aquaman a limited-time area for himself like they did for Deadpool and his yacht.
Alternatively, these "ruins" could offer some insight into the history of Fortnite's world. The Doomsday event that kicked off this season suggested that Fortnite: Battle Royale could be some kind of computer simulation within a broader Fortnite universe, so any kind of ancient ruins could provide some kind of a clue that deepens the lore that Epic Games is trying to build.
For now, we'll just have to wait until The Ruins is added to Fortnite later this season to see what they actually have in store for us.
The Inverse Analysis — Epic Games seems to be winding down support for the story-based Save the World mode after recently bringing the game out of Early Access. As such, it wouldn't be surprising to see more frequent changes happening to the Fortnite: Battle Royale map over the course of this season. The biggest lore-based question right now is what purpose the ruins might serve? How long will they stick around? Is it just a fun Aquaman-themed tie-in or something richer than that?
If the location is tied to Aquaman, it will probably be a temporary addition. Hopefully, it isn't so this new part of the map can stick around for a while and add to Fortnite's lore. Fortnite Chapter 2, Season 3 may be the game's oddest season yet, so I'm looking forward to any other intriguing changes Epic Games has in store in the coming weeks and months.
Fortnite is available now for PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.
