Battle Pass Exclusivity Extinguished; Epic Games No Longer Locking Characters Away From New Players
The age of Fortnite exclusivity has ended. Epic Games will no longer be locking characters behind a seasonal Battle Pass beginning with the Absolute Doom storyline. This change to Fortnite policy comes immediately on the heels of a mistake that Epic Games unintentionally made whereby The Paradigm who was meant as a Chapter 1 – Season X exclusive was released in the Item Shop for purchase by the general public. This fan-favourite Outfit remained available for only 15 minutes before Epic Games rectified the situation and removed her entirely with this statement hitting social media:
The community response was notably upset over this decision with majority favouring an option to allow players to the cosmetic but release an additional Style exclusively for those original 2019 owners which allowed them to maintain their “OG” status. A similar indecent occurred when Skull Trooper returned to the Item Shop in 2018 after he was thought to have been a limited-time offer; Epic Games granted eligible players with a Purple Glow Style as a result. This naturally ignited the conversation around exclusivity – addendum was released nearly 90 minutes following that initial post:
Moving forward, Epic Games has said that Battle Pass cosmetics beginning with Absolute Doom are eligible to be purchased from the Item Shop at least 18 months following the conclusion of a respected season. Battle Pass benefits will not be affected including the 950 V-Bucks price which Fortnite Crew subscribers receive at no additional cost. The decision to remove Battle Pass exclusivity does not mean that previous Battle Passes will return – those will remain permanently unobtainable to players.
This change [allows] us [to] continue investing in new and exciting Battle Pass rewards while enabling players down the road to also enjoy the content – including Outfits based on popular licensed characters.
Epic Games
This does not mean Epic Games will never bring back characters included in previous Battle Passes entirely. Deadpool & Wolverine were released in Chapter 2 and made their triumphant Fortnite returns with Pen & Ink versions – ingenuity in the purest sense of the word. Indiana Jones and Clark Kent cannot return in their current forms along with Darth Vader, Carnage, and Doctor Strange just to name a few licensed characters affected by the Battle Pass restriction. Items slated for limited-time release within a current Battle Pass will be disclosed by Epic Games via in-game and online messaging.
Fortnite is available on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC, Amazon Luna, and Android devices with iOS compatibility available through GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming.
