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It is no secret that a large part of Fortnite’s success can be attributed to its successful deployment of microtransactions. These microtransactions are offered in the form of multiple cosmetics (such as skins) that can be purchased against a set amount of ‘V-Bucks’, which can be brought with real-world money.
This has been in practice since the early days of Fortnite, and is something the player base has gotten used to over the years. Things have drastically changed in recent times though – with the Item Shop turning out to be downright predatory at times, marking itself as nothing more than a cash grab.
Fortnite community unhappy with the excessive monetization of skins
Arecent post on the r/FortNiteBR subreddithas gone viral, seemingly ‘thanking’ Epic Games for not selling skins individually, and instead packing them into a bundle. This post is obviously sarcastic in nature, as the showcased ‘Bao Bros’ skin in the screenshots are well over 5 years old at this point.
The comments also seem to agree on the same, with many commenting on the fall of the game towards more predatory microtransactions, calling out Epic for their change in mindset, as well as adding in additional, snarky remarks regarding the current state of Fortnite.
For the uninitiated, Fortnite used to feature a lot more skin bundles as opposed to individual skins, which made buying cosmetics a whole lot cheaper.
Another thing to note would be the age of these cosmetics, which are likely to be older than a large section of the game’s player base.
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This also highlights how long Fortnite has been around for, and still manages to remain as popular as it was back then –a testament to the success of its simple yet effective formula.
It should be noted that the Epic of today is lot different now, and they would likely charge top dollar for these skins today.
Things have changed for the worse, and the player base must vote with their wallets to make an impact
It’s no secret thatFortnite has been on a downhill momentum of sorts(at least with regards to the user experience and overall state of the game – not with regards to its popularity), with many players reporting a massive set of issues plaguing the game.
For starters, there isan overabundance of cheaters in Fortnite, and Epic’s move to combat them has been anything but sensible. Banning an entire team just because they were unlucky enough to be paired with a hacker does not instill confidence, and just sours the experience for everyone.
This, coupled with the game’s overreliance on microtransactions that seem to extend into scams from third parties (of which Epic does not do a good enough job of keeping check) paints a rather bleak picture of the game.
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Sure, the game is popular, and maintains a healthy player base to this day – but what is going on is truly miserable, and Fortnite must do better to appease its player base.
While it can be argued that these skins are simply cosmetic in nature, offering no gameplay advantages, they do in fact introduce unknowing children (who make up a major section of Fortnite’s player base) to things like loot boxes and gambling mechanics, which could be potentially damaging in the long run.
Cosmetics are a tempting thing, and the rush of winning against the odds is quite addictive by nature. Ultimately, all players can do is vote with their wallets and hope that Epic listens to their feedback in order to incorporate a better game environment. If all else fails, lawmakers might need to regulate the game in their stead instead.
Dipan Saha
Articles Published :396
Dipan has been contributing to FandomWire’s Gaming and Gaming Tech sections for over half a year now. He loves writing about AAA, indie and gacha games - along with dabbling in tech from time to time. Some of his favorite games include Prince of Persia (2008), Animal Well and Death Stranding.
