Epic Games says it is raising the price of Fortnite’s in-game currency, V-Bucks, to “help pay the bills” because the cost of running the game had “gone up a lot”.
The developer announced that from 19 March the price of V-Bucks will increase, to fans dismay, while bonus currency rewards will also be removed from the game’s main battle pass.
But it added players will see a decrease in the cost of the battle pass, an optional seasonal pass players pay for to get special cosmetics.
Although it is free to play, Fortnite is estimated to generate billions of dollars in revenue every year, making it one of the world’s most successful games.
It makes most of its money through in-game subscriptions and passes, what are known as microtransactions.
The increases mean players will get fewer V-Bucks when buying the in-game currency.
For example:
- A $8.99 (around £6.99) Pack will now give 800 V-Bucks (1,000 beforehand)
- A $22.99 (£17.49) Pack will now give 2,400 V-Bucks (2,800 beforehand)
- A $36.99 (27.99) Pack will now give 4,500 V-Bucks (5,000 beforehand)
- And a $89.99 (£69.99) Pack will now give 12,500 V-Bucks (13,500 beforehand)
Meanwhile, people who are subscribed to Fortnite’s monthly “Crew” membership – which provides exclusive in-game content – will receive 800 V-Bucks a month rather than1,000.
Instead of costing 1,000 V-Bucks, the main battle pass will now be priced at 800. The game’s other three passes will also get price drops of 200.
“For the first time in Fortnite history, V-Bucks will now be more expensive than they were when the game launched in 2017,” an X account dedicated to Fortnite news claimed.
The news has provoked a backlash from fans, with some questioning the justification given for the price hike, particularly given Google’s recent settlement with the company in a five-year legal fight over in-app purchase fees.
“Epic is a big company that made this decision because they know their customers will pay regardless,” one posted on X.
Some players also threatened to cancel their memberships and questioned if this would trigger further cuts to content in the game, such as to in-game daily missions to earn the currency.
Freelance games journalist Vic Hood told the BBC the decision “may come as a surprise” given a recent reveal by Epic that player spending on third-party titles had reached an all-time record of $400 million.
However, she added the Epic Games Store, the developer’s digital storefront, had also seen a decline in third-party spending across 2023/2024.
“While a price increase for V-Bucks isn’t ideal for players, it’s preferable to something more extreme like making it a paid-for, rather than free-to-play game,” she said.
The games industry has seen a wave of price increases in hardware, software and subscription prices over the past year, driven by rising development costs, inflation and tariffs.
The BBC asked Epic for a statement but it had no further comment.
BBC
