Welcome on board: Fortnite
Epic
Fortnite has certainly been on a roll, making some grand progress toward their ambitious metaverse goals with the release of its LEGO, racing, and concert worlds. But, in their quest for innovation, they have also capitalized on opportunities to compensate for declining battle royale revenue in some significant and immediate ways.
While everyone is having a blast with the latest game components, there is an evident push from Epic to monetize the racing and concert segments in ways we haven’t seen before. Although fans welcomed the LEGO adaptations of their skins and easily hopped into that mode, the same can’t be said for the other additions.
In Fortnite’s Rocket Racing mode, Epic has upped the ante by pricing the cars significantly higher than most standard Fortnite skins. The Diesel Bundle, for instance, offers a single car with six swappable decals for a whopping 4,000 V-Bucks. You can get 1,000 V-Bucks for $9, and 2,800 V-Bucks for $23. Yet, even after purchasing these bundles, you’d still fall short unless you spend $37 for the 5,000 bundle. This is quite the departure from the “micro” in microtransaction. The “cheaper” cars are available for 2,500 each, costing you $23 each. Alternatively, you may get a car with the tail end of the $10 normal Fortnite battle pass.
Harmonix used to sell Rock Band songs for $2 each. However, Fortnite’s Festival Main Stage mode has now adopted a similar model, selling individual songs like Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” or Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” for 500 V-Bucks apiece. Yet, given that V-Bucks cannot be bought in such small quantities, you would need to purchase the $9 pack for 1,000, meaning you have to buy two songs at a time or save the remainder.
Fortnite’s Festival mode has also begun selling $9 guitar and drum kits. On top of that, it offers a separate battle pass for the mode costing 1,800 V-Bucks, so around $18 at its cheapest, which is nearly double the normal battle pass cost. The premium track will get you 11 items, including The Weeknd’s skin at the final tier.
As these modes gain popularity, we can expect to see more of these types of bundles, passes, and other highly expensive additions to the game. This represents a whole new microtransaction dimension for Epic, and they won’t squander that chance. Are people truly willing to shell out $40 for a Fortnite car? I guess time will tell.
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