Hate: Inflation
Inflation hit Fortnite very exhausting prior to now 12 months, because of a multi-pronged strategy from Epic to extend the value of all the pieces. It started in late 2023 with the elevated worth of V-Bucks, and continued into the brand new 12 months with two main modifications in Epic’s merchandise store philosophy: Except for some Icon skins (skins of actual celebrities like Shaq) and ultra-customizable skins just like the Skratch Company set, Fortnite stopped launched new collaboration skins which have a number of fashion choices.
In Chapter 5 Season 4, for instance, Epic launched 21 new non-Icon collaboration skins. Solely three of them had any fashion choices in any respect, and people three solely had toggleable features–Iron Spider’s helmet, Black Cat’s masks, and Spider-Girl’s webbing. Today, Epic defaults to promoting further kinds individually, as we have simply seen with the Platinum Competition skins, that are minor recolors of present skins being bought for 1,800 V-Bucks every. Prior to now, kinds like that will have been added to the present skins as a value-add to inspire new purchases, however these days are over.
And on prime of that, Epic developed a troubling behavior of bundling collaboration skins with equipment for a better worth and never permitting you to purchase them on their very own. As soon as a uncommon observe, Epic pulled this transfer a minimum of 30 instances in 2024, totally on collab skins. There have been solely 5 whole examples of Epic making an attempt this tactic in 2023, and 4 of them have been the TMNT skins the corporate launched on the very finish of the 12 months.
And, lastly, on prime of all that, bundle costs have gone by means of the tough. These used to max out at 2800 V-Bucks, presumably as a result of you should purchase that precise quantity. However all the massive collaboration bundles in 2024 went previous that, with 3400-3800 apparently changing into Epic’s most popular worth vary for giant bundles. Fortuitously for everybody, Epic appears to be retreating from this new normal slightly bit with a lot of the new bundles in December.