My Fortnite loose, the name of the interface that contains all of my cosmetic items, has become the video game equivalent of a junk drawer. If you browse my account you will find a backpack version of Ninken from Naruto next to a rainbow weapon case that I received from the 2021 Pride collection. The game contains submenus for emotes, wraps, cars, instruments and Lego sets. This is all too much and to be honest I'm worried that the recent changes in the Fortnite Epic Games' subscription service ignores a simple truth: sometimes less is more.
On Wednesday, Epic Games announced a big change to the Fortnite Crewits monthly subscription service that rewards players with the Battle Royale Battle Pass, V-Bucks and other perks. Starting December 1st, Fortnite Crew subscribers will receive Music Pass and Lego Pass content at no additional cost. Once the change takes effect, players who have subscribed to it will be able to progress in the other games on the platform and redeem cosmetics, such as: B. Battle Passes from Fortnite Festival and Lego Fortnite.
On the surface, this looks extremely consumer-friendly – and in many ways, it is. Essentially, it's about making more items available to people for free. If I subscribe and just want to play the battle royale mode, I still end up getting a whole bunch of other cosmetics from other games Fortnite. Additionally, Epic Games has also changed the way the Battle Pass works so that increasing a level in one pass unlocks the items in another. This way, you don't have to grind each game individually if you want to earn cosmetics from other Battle Passes.
That sounds great, but the announcement came with another note: the standard price of the Battle Royale Battle Pass (outside of the Crew subscription) will be increased from 950 to 1,000 V-Bucks.
The price increase doesn't significantly change how much you pay in dollars. You can purchase 1,000 V-Bucks for $8.99 from the in-game shop. Additionally, 50 V-Bucks isn't exactly an exorbitant amount of currency and isn't even enough to buy a low-tier emote. However, if you're a regular player, this amount can add up, and even the measly 50 V-Bucks can determine whether or not you can purchase a specific skin from the store on a given day. (Which is important because who knows when your favorite cosmetic will be available again Fortnite Shop as items are rotated in and out!)
To me, incremental price increases like this only serve to increase the value of the subscription service and give players the option to opt in for the full premium Fortnite Subscription. It's almost like the modern video game equivalent of bundling cable or streaming services – you might not want to have everything, but because all the individual parts become so expensive, it eventually makes financial sense.
Additionally, changes like these are aimed at how Epic Games wants its users to interact with the platform, rather than the actual way the majority of its players do so. At the time of publication, Lego Fornite had 24,600 active users and Fortnite Festival had 8,500 players. In comparison, the unrated version of the Battle Royale mode has more than 542,000 players and Zero Build has 344,800 players. Instead of improving the Battle Pass experience around these games, Epic Games decided to increase the price and put a lot of unneeded items in the lockers of its Fortnite Crew subscribers.
As a battle royale player, I don't want more garbage. I want a transparent pricing system for cosmetic items. I want a consistent Battle Pass price. I want a locker and an emote wheel that I can actually organize. I don't want to bother with leveling the Battle Pass and want the option to buy old skins. While the Fortnite crew change seems fine at first glance, it definitely feels like the company is throwing a whole lot of nonsense in my face.
