'The Cost of Running Fortnite Has Gone Up a Lot and We're Raising Prices to Help Pay the Bills,' Epic Games Says, Announcing V-Bucks Changes and More

Epic Games has announced a large alteration to the prices and organisation of Fortnite's in-game V-Bucks currency, and blamed the outgo increases connected the request to "help wage the bills."

Fortnite's cardinal dollar-grossing conflict royale mode launched backmost successful 2017, and has often recovered itself arsenic portion of the taste zeitgeist. But portion caller years person seen ever-bigger collaborations with movies and popular stars, its subordinate numbers person been dwarfed by third-party crippled level Roblox.

Earlier this year, Fortnite began allowing its ain third-party crippled creators to statesman selling microtransaction items (while Epic Games took a cut), a determination that Epic itself antecedently said it wouldn't entertain. The wider institution has besides been engaged spending large connected escaped games to pull users to its PC storefront, battling Apple and Google successful the courtroom, and gathering an in-game mode backed by a $1.5 cardinal concern by Disney.

All of that said, however, you'll soon beryllium paying much for V-Bucks. You'll besides get less escaped V-Bucks from the game's conflict pass, and less from the game's Fortnite Crew subscription.

At the aforesaid time, Epic Games has reduced the V-Bucks outgo of the conflict walk (and the OG, Music and LEGO Passes) somewhat successful a determination that makes this look a small much palatable. But successful a satellite wherever each of the game's large collaborations onshore successful the Fortnite shop, it's the emergence successful V-Bucks prices that volition apt spot fans yet forking implicit much wealth than before.

Another large alteration volition spot the Fortnite conflict walk lone see the nonstop fig of V-Bucks indispensable to bargain the adjacent one, alternatively than providing fractional its worth again arsenic a bonus.

Fortnite's changing V-Bucks prices. Image: Epic Games.

$8.99 volition present get you 800 V-Bucks, down from 1000, which is besides the caller outgo of the game's main conflict walk and OG Pass. (The Music and LEGO passes volition outgo 1,200 V-Bucks going forward, alternatively of 1,400.)

$22.99 volition get you 2,400 V-Bucks (previously 2,800), $36.99 is present worthy 4,500 (down from 5,000), portion $89.99 volition get you 12,500 V-Bucks (instead of 13,500). If you're topping up your relationship with an nonstop magnitude of V-Bucks to bargain a circumstantial item, meanwhile, it present costs $0.99 per 50 V-Bucks alternatively than $0.50, efficaciously doubling the price.

Other than stating that it needs assistance paying the bills, Epic Games has not made immoderate further remark connected the reasoning for the terms rises. The changes volition spell into effect connected March 19, astatine the opening of the adjacent conflict royale play — a trailer for which dropped to instrumentality acclaim conscionable yesterday. (Surely Dwayne Johnson doesn't outgo that much? Maybe helium does.)

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social