My Fortnite locker, the title of the UI interface that comprises all of my beauty objects, has change into the online game equal of a junk drawer. Rummage by my account, and also you’ll discover a backpack model of Ninken from Naruto lined up subsequent to a rainbow gun wrap I obtained from the 2021 Pleasure assortment. The sport comprises sub-menus for emotes, wraps, vehicles, devices, and Lego kits. It’s all an excessive amount of, and to be frank, I’m frightened that current adjustments within the Fortnite subscription service from Epic Video games ignore a easy reality: Generally, much less is extra.
On Wednesday, Epic Video games introduced an enormous change to Fortnite Crew, its month-to-month subscription service that awards gamers with the Battle Royale battle go, V-bucks, and different perks. Beginning on Dec. 1, Fortnite Crew subscribers will get content material from the Music Move and Lego Move at no extra price. So as soon as the change goes stay, gamers who subscribe to will probably be capable of progress and redeem cosmetics on the opposite video games on the platform, like battle passes from Fortnite Competition and Lego Fortnite.
On the floor, this appears extraordinarily pro-consumer — and in some ways, it’s. It’s basically giving folks extra objects free of charge. If I subscribe and I solely wish to play the Battle Royale mode, I’ll nonetheless find yourself with an entire lot of different cosmetics from different video games on Fortnite. Along with that, Epic Video games has additionally modified how the battle go works, so leveling up one go will unlock the objects on one other. This manner, you don’t have to grind every sport individually for those who’re concerned with incomes cosmetics from different battle passes.
It sounds nice, however the announcement got here with one other discover: The usual worth of the Battle Royale battle go (outdoors of the Crew subscription) can be raised in worth from 950 to 1,000 V-bucks.
The value hike doesn’t considerably change how a lot you pay in {dollars}. You should purchase 1,000 V-bucks for $8.99 from the in-game store. Moreover, 50 V-bucks isn’t precisely an exorbitant quantity of foreign money, and it isn’t even sufficient to purchase a low-tier emote. Nonetheless, for those who’re an everyday participant, that quantity can add up, and even a paltry 50 V-bucks might make or break whether or not or not you’ll be able to buy a sure pores and skin within the retailer on any given day. (Which issues, as a result of who is aware of when your favourite beauty will return to the Fortnite store, because it rotates objects out and in!)
For me, gradual worth hikes like this solely serve to boost the worth of the subscription service and permit gamers to justify springing for the full-on premium Fortnite subscription. It’s nearly like the fashionable online game equal of bundling cable or streaming providers — you may not need every little thing in there, however as a result of all the person components are getting so costly, it will definitely makes monetary sense.
What’s extra is that adjustments like this are catered towards how Epic Video games desires its customers to have interaction with its platform, relatively than the precise approach nearly all of its gamers do. At time of publication, Lego Fornite has 24,600 lively customers, and Fortnite Competition has 8,500 gamers. As compared, the unranked model of the Battle Royale mode has greater than 542,000 gamers, and Zero Construct has 344,800 gamers. As a substitute of enhancing the battle go expertise round these video games, Epic Video games has determined to lift the value and shove a bunch of unneeded objects into the lockers of its Fortnite Crew subscribers.
As a Battle Royale participant, I don’t need extra junk. I need a clear pricing system on the subject of beauty objects. I need a constant battle go worth. I need a locker and emote wheel that I can truly manage. I don’t wish to grind the battle go leveling, and I’d like the flexibility to purchase previous skins. So whereas the Fortnite Crew change may appear all proper on the floor, it certain does really feel like the corporate is throwing an entire lot of junk in my face.