'Fortnite: Battle Royale' just got a massive update for Season 5 — here are all the latest additions

Fortnite Season 5

For months now, "Fortnite: Battle Royale" has kept players on their toes with weekly — and sometimes daily — updates to the game, including new character skins, limited-time game modes, and fun and interesting challenges.

Some of those updates have been just for fun, and some actually change the way the game is played. For example, in the days leading up to the beginning of Season 4, the game hinted that a meteor shower would change the island forever. When the meteor did hit, it caused a large crater in the enter of the map, turning Dusty Depot into the craterous Dusty Divot. Later, there was even a limited-time tie-in with "Avengers: Infinity War."

The developers have also introduced or removed a few truly game-changing tools, including jetpacks, guided missiles, a rideable shopping cart, and now rifts.

This week's update corresponded with the transition to Battle Pass Season 5, which ushered in several new locations on the island, a new vehicle, and even a new game mechanic.

In "Fortnite: Battle Royale," the changing of seasons is a big deal, and Thursday's transition to Season 5 may be the biggest one yet.

Here's everything that's new in Fortnite this week:

NEW ITEMS: Rifts

The rifts — that is, breaks in the space-time continuum — are finally given meaning in the latest update.

Players can now interact with the rifts, which act as teleporters. Simply walking up to a rift will teleport a player way up into the air, where they're apparently spat back out by another rift, only to parachute back onto the island.

The rifts will always drop you just above the same area where you entered, so this isn't quite a long-distance travel solution, but it is really fun and could be helpful for making a quick escape while being chased or cornered.

The rifts seem to be scattered around the island randomly, but I found at least three all on the edge of Loot Lake in a single match.

NEW VEHICLE: All-Terrain Karts

This update includes the game's very first four-man fast-moving vehicle, in the form of a golf cart.

They're not all that much faster than the shopping carts, and tip over quite easily. Although, I was using the Nintendo Switch while trying one out, so I was definitely more prone to over-correcting on the steering than a person playing on PC might be.

However, the carts are really quiet, which is a nice change from lots of other battle-royale games where riding in a loud vehicle will immediately give your position away.

The carts will no doubt be invaluable for those who like to play with their friends in Squads mode.

NEW LOCATIONS: Paradise Palms

Moisty Mire is now officially Paradise Palms, a sandy desert complete with cactuses, tumbleweeds, and lots of palm trees.

The new desert landscape covers the entire southeast corner of the map, and offers lots of new areas to explore.

It's likely that Paradise Palms is at least somewhat inspired by resort destination Palm Springs, California, especially given Epic Game's recent decision to plant a real-life replica of the Durr Burger in the California desert last week.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider