Epic Games has announced a pretty major change to how Fortnite’s Battle Pass items work, steering away from a years-long trend by finally making items in future Battle Passes available for general purchase after a period of 18 months or more.
This opens the doors for a bevvy of licensed characters and other highly-prized items that would’ve been locked to Battle Passes, like Outfits, Back Blings, Pickaxes, Emotes, Instruments, Decals, Wraps, Loading Screens, Banner Icons, and more, to be made available to players who perhaps weren’t into the game at the time or couldn’t dedicate the time to unlock them.
It’s been stressed that this doesn’t guarantee all Battle Pass items will eventually make their way to the Fortnite Shop, but the post specifically calls out the continued distribution of licensed IP content as a motivating factor in this update. These changes also won’t affect the price of the Battle Pass, which remains at 950 V-Bucks – though it’ll obviously add a potential new revenue stream for Epic by allowing it to sell these items separately.
Incoming Battle Pass update:
Items in future Fortnite Battle Passes may be offered for purchase in the Shop after 18 or more months from a Battle Pass’ expiration.
Find out more: https://t.co/0JH00SLMuy
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) August 7, 2024
The official blog post revealing the changes reads:
“Items in future Fortnite Battle Passes might be offered for purchase in the Fortnite Shop after 18 or more months from the Battle Pass’ expiration. A Battle Pass item may include a different number of its alt Styles each time it comes to the Shop.
“This change lets us continue investing in new and exciting Battle Pass rewards while enabling players down the road to also enjoy the content, including Outfits based on popular licensed characters.
“Battle Pass benefits stay the same: pages of unlockable rewards you can use across one or more Fortnite experiences. You’ll still be able to progress in the Battle Pass by playing any experience that grants XP!”
There’s a lengthier FAQ also available on the official Fortnite website that has answers to some more specific questions around these changes, you can find it here.
Update: I originally had the word “previous” in the headline to clarify that Epic won’t be selling Battle Pass items day-and-date in the store, but to avoid confusion with legacy Battle Passes I’ve altered it.
