The first 'Fortnite' Season 8 update has arrived, bringing treasure maps, a new tournament format, and a ridiculous limited time mode

"Fortnite"/Epic Games

Maps leading to buried treasure are the biggest addition in "Fortnite" patch 8.01.

• The latest update to "Fortnite: Battle Royale" adds treasure maps that will lead players to buried treasure chests and legendary loot.
• The treasure chests match the pirate theme of "Fortnite" season 8; the debut trailer showed characters following a map around the island.
• This week's patch also introduces a new limited time mode and a new tournament format.

Epic Games has released the first patch for season 8 of "Fortnite," introducing treasure maps to "Battle Royale," and refreshing the game's weekly events.

Starting today, players will find treasure maps among the standard loot in "Battle Royale" mode. As you might expect, the maps will lead players to a buried treasure chest marked by an X. If they manage to dig the chest out with their pickaxe, the loot inside of the chest is guaranteed to be at least yellow tier; legendary in rarity. Players will only be able to carry one treasure map at a time.

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"Fortnite"/Epic Games

The debut trailer for "Fortnite" season 8 showed multiple squads following treasure maps.

Read more: 'Fortnite' season 8 launches today with new skins, new map locations, and a huge overhaul to its offline mode

Today's patch will also add a new limited time mode (LTM), called Slide Duos. The mode reduces friction while moving, significantly increases max run speed, and removes fall damage - that means that players will be able to slip and slide across large portions of the map without fear of killing themselves. Each player will be equipped with an infinite ammo grappler to help propel across the slippery terrain.

Finally, patch 8.01 will adjust the format for "Fortnite's" Gauntlet tournaments. Players in Duos will now have an individual score, regardless of their partner. In both Solos and Duos, everyone can play as many matches as they want during the event hours and earn points based on their placement and eliminations. Each Gauntlet match will reduce player score by two points, as added fare for the battle bus. Regular Gauntlet matches will run until midnight GMT on March 9th.

The Gauntlet Finals event will be over the weekend for both Solo and Duos players. The event will take place during a three-hour window, with separate leaderboards for each region; the East and West Coast servers in North America will be separated for the event.

The finals will have a match limit of 10 games, and the top 3,000 players from each region will progress into Round 2 on Sunday. You'll have to log into "Fortnite" to find out what time the tournament starts in your region; exact scoring details are available on Fortnite.com

"Fortnite" is still the most popular game in the world, with more than 200 million registered players. The game is available for free on iOS, Android, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

"Fortnite" patch 8.01 is live now; to learn more about the changes in Season 8, be sure to check out the rest of our "Fortnite" coverage.