Here's what's new in Fortnite Season 3, from Splash Down map changes to skins and rideable sharks

The newest season of Fortnite is finally upon us, as Season 3 of the game’s Chapter 2 kicks off today!

‘Splash Down’ is one of the more anticipated new seasons of the popular Battle Royale game, and arrives following multiple delays.

Ahead of the new season, there was a big in-game event; excitement began building when a countdown timer appeared in the game, set to hit zero on Monday 15 June.

One of Fortnite’s more spectacular live events, ‘The Device’ set in motion a wave of changes that have made some big difference to a now soggy map.

Here’s everything you need to know:

What happened during The Device event?

During The Device event, Midas’ doomsday clock hit zero, and kicked off a chain of events that sunk the game’s map.

As the countdown ended, pillars lifted up from under the map’s existing stretches of water as an explosion blew up The Agency building.

The ‘Doomsday’ device appeared on a pedestal, as players were lifted into the air and transported to an alternate dimension office, where a character could be heard talking about storms and “the loop.”

When players were eventually sent back to the map, it was completely sunken into the sea.

Immediately after the event, the game was in a sort of limbo between The Device and the start of Season 3; players hoping to jump into a match instead found themselves on an island surrounded by a wall of water, and were promptly killed by AI-controlled Henchmen.

What’s new in Season 3?

As expected, Fortnite’s map is now a watery paradise, with entire areas altered drastically by an influx of H2O.

But it’s not just the map that has changed (more on that later); a number of new features, mechanics and items have been introduced to the game.

For one, rideable sharks now allow you to latch on and zip about the wetter areas of the map at speed. Careful though, as developers Epic Games describe the big fish as “item hungry”, so they’ll likely gobble up any dropped loot in their vicinity.

Maybe they’ll be partial to biting players too?

Pirate-style Marauders have also been added to the game, and will crash down onto the island to give you an extra challenge, similar to the Henchmen of last season.

Jason Momoa's big-screen depiction of DC Comic hero Aquaman has also been dropped into the game.