Fortnite‘s green pastures are not so green anymore, or at least that’s what Epic Games is signalling with the sudden price increase to V-Bucks (the game’s paid premium currency) across the board.
Via 10th March’s short blog post, the company announced big changes to pricing that will be implemented on 19th March. It’s all fairly straightforward: You’re getting less V-Buck for your hard-earned money because the entertainment giant, which reportedly made $6.21 billion in gross revenue last year, needs help to “pay the bills.” The new values for each pack, unless changes are backtracked, will be as follows (regional prices and changes might be different):
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$8.99 pack – 800 V-Bucks (before 1,000)
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$22.99 pack – 2,400 V-Bucks (before 2,800)
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$36.99 pack – 4,500 V-Bucks (before 5,000)
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$89.99 pack – 12,500 V-Bucks (before 13,500)
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Exact amount pack – $0.99 for 50 V-Bucks (was $0.49 for 50)
To (try to) offset the disappointment, Epic has underlined users will get a 20 percent cashback for spending money through the Epic Games Store, whether it’s on Fortnite, Rocket League, or Fall Guys‘ premium currencies.
Meanwhile, the battle passes are seeing a “price drop” (not really since V-Bucks are going up) that brings them down to 800 V-Bucks a piece versus 1,000 before the changes. Only 800 V-Bucks will be awarded in total upon completion, so you’re losing value overall. The other passes (and packs) are being altered as well. Here are three other examples:
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OG Pass – 800 V-Bucks (was 1,000)
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Music Pass – 1,200 V-Bucks (was 1,400)
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Lego Pass – 1,200 V-Bucks (was 1,400)
It must be noted physical V-Bucks gift cards currently being sold will redeem for their original value, so the changes will only be applied to the new ones as they’re printed and distributed.
One can only imagine the gargantuan costs of keeping Fortnite’s development, servers, and massive IP licensing deals alive, but it’s still hugely popular and profitable, and with the Epic Games Store reportedly hitting “low margins” despite the company’s best efforts, maybe the powers that be just need to rethink how big Fortnite should reasonably be and whether the strategy of spending more and more millions each year on weekly free games is paying off.