Retail Row returns to Fortnite, and it brought some purple friends

Fortnite's Retail Row, which was destroyed along with Tilted Towers in May, is back in the game—but it's not quite the same as it used to be.

The return of Retail Row is a good news/bad news situation. The good news is that prices have been drastically reduced—you won't find a better deal anywhere! The bad news is that the Rift Zone that reverted the Mega Mall to Retail Row also ushered in hordes of Fiends, and they're nastier than Wal-Mart shoppers on Black Friday.

But more good news: Fiends can drop weapons, consumables, or ammo when they're downed. Luckily for Fortnite players who aren't interested in new levels of consumer excitement, they also can't wander outside the Retail Row Rift Zone.

Retail Row's return to Fortnite comes as part of the 10.10 update that went live today. We'll have a deeper dive into all it brings to the game for you soon.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.