Fortnite Season 3 Star Wars Galactic Battle release date, downtime, new map, Battle Pass

fans are counting down to the start of the , which comes with a .

Fortnite Chapter 6, Season 3 has a May 2 release date on PS5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, Android and Nintendo Switch.

The new Fortnite season will be accompanied by update 35.00, which can be downloaded during a period of server downtime beginning at 7am BST UK time.

The release date and server downtime period was announced by on X, alongside a preview about what to expect from the new season.

"Galactic Battle Awaits!" reads an Epic tweet. "Downtime for v35.00 begins at 2 AM ET with matchmaking ending shortly beforehand."

As the tweet points out, matchmaking will be disabled before the downtime begins in full, which means you'll be unable to join a game around 30 minutes before servers are offline.

As you can see from the trailer above, Fortnite Chapter 6, Season 3 is titled Galactic Battle and will revolve around Star Wars.

The map will introduce multiple locations based on Star Wars, while the Battle Pass will contain various characters from the Star Wars universe.

The first skin is Apprentice Evie, who is described as a "Force-sensitive vigilante spreading peace across the Galaxy".

That's on top of Poe Dameron, as well as Wookiee Team Leader, Emperor Palpatine and General Grievous later in the season. Additional Star Wars characters will be available to purchase in the Item Shop, such as Darth Jar Jar, Mace Windu and a customisable Mandalorian.

As for the Fortnite map, locations include the Resistance Base, First Order base, Vader Samurai's Solitude, Outpost Enclave and returning POIs like Crime City.

Needless to say, fans can expect new and returning weapons and abilities, including the ability to pilot a TIE Fighter, use lightsabers and utilise powers such as Force Lightning.

The new Star Wars season will be shorter than most and feature multiple events taking place each week.

It starts with the 'Imperial Takeover' theme from May 2. This will be followed by 'The Pull of the Force' from May 8, 'Mandalorian Rising' from May 22 and 'Star Destroyer Bombardment' from May 29.

The Pull of the Force event will see Luke and Leia arrive on the Island, alongside Han Solo and Mace Windu. That's alongside powers such as Force Throw.

The Mandalorian Rising event, meanwhile, will add the Mandalorian Jetpack, alongside weapons such as the Amban Sniper Rifle and the new dual-wield WESTAR-34 Blaster Pistols.

Finally, the Star Destroyer Bombardment event will give players the chance to take control of a Star Destroyer's turbolaser by taking over the control room before your opponents.