Fortnite and Epic Games have dropped some news today that may split its fanbase: they’re changing the rules surrounding item exclusivity in the Battle Pass.
Many fans of Fortnite have been vocal over the years regarding item exclusivity in previous battle passes. Fan favourites like God of War‘s Kratos have been rumoured to receive rereleases, and other incredibly rare skins like the Golden Agent Peely haven’t been available since its release back in Chapter 2, Season 2. But today, all of this may have changed. Epic Games has announced a fundamental change to its battle pass offerings. They will offer exclusive items from retired battle passes in the item shop.
Epic Games has posted a change of policy on their official site, saying battle pass exclusives, all of the battle pass exclusives, “can” appear in the item shop after 18 months have elapsed since the battle pass has concluded. It’s important to note, that just because the new policy includes “all items” from previous battle pass offerings, Fortnite could decide to keep some outfits locked away in the vault.
The same can be said for the alternate versions of items. Usually, battle pass offerings come with two variants of specific character outfits — the Golden Agent above also comes in a tuxedo variant — and Epic bluntly stated that if a certain item is included, it does not mean that the other variant will be included or ever offered. It’s worth mentioning that if a certain skin has a LEGO variant, that LEGO variant will be included also.
Lastly, Fortnite mentions that even though a battle pass has concluded, it doesn’t mean that exclusive items will land in the item shop. It just means that the items can be offered 18 months after the battle pass has expired. Fans on the X (formerly Twitter) post have largely applauded the decision, with most saying a resounding thank you to the change in policy, and even some fans have requested Fortnite to bring back some of the retired passes altogether. With this new shift in policy, anything could be possible.
While it remains to be seen who will be the first offering to the item shop, all of those ‘Kratos is coming back’ rumours can now continue all over again, but instead of if, the question is when.
