Fortnite's New Tilted Town Turns Off Building And Mining

It looks like Fortnite's battle royale map is going to transform an awful lot this season. With today's update, Tilted Towers has officially become Tilted Town, an Old West locale that looks more Red Dead Redemption than Fortnite. But there's more to this change than meets the eye, as many have discovered.

When you're dropping down toward Tilted Town, you'll notice the entire space is shielded by a blue dome. That definitely didn't used to be there. As you look around, you'll notice that the skyscrapers of Tilted Towers are gone, and a dusty old town sits where the city used to be. Very interesting. And when you finally get inside the dome and your feet hit solid ground, your currently equipped skin will be swapped out for something more... Western.

Oh, and you won't have access to either your building tools or your mining gear. This space is for gunfights only.

That last bit marks an notable shift for Fortnite, which in the past has toyed with the idea of nerfing Battle Royale's building mechanic. It's the aspect of the game that arguably helps it stand out from other shooters in the battle royale space. At the same time, though, it's the part that many players have the most trouble with. Most games are won simply because one player was a more efficient builder than another, and not necessarily because they were a better shooter. And building isn't nearly as seamless on console as it is on PC, where dedicated keyboard buttons can be assigned to walls, floors, ramps, and ceilings.

It's unclear if Epic Games is testing out a Fortnite without building here, or if the studio just wanted to force players into Old West-style shootouts without any other distractions. But we imagine a lot of people are going to be visiting Tilted Town to see how Fortnite feels when players can't instantly build towers into the heavens. That, and they might want to investigate what's going on in Tilted Town, too. It appears there are fireballs dropping out of the sky, and we have no earthly idea what that's about.

Fortnite's latest update is live now.