Epic Games is making one of its biggest changes ever to Fortnite next week--the items on the upcoming Chapter 5 Season 4 battle pass will be the first in the game's history that aren't exclusive to the season they belong to. Starting with the upcoming season that begins on August 16, battle-pass cosmetics can be made available for sale in the Fortnite item shop starting 18 months after the end of the season.
This is a massive change because all previous battle-pass cosmetics have been sold under the pretense that they will never be available. Skins like Darth Vader and Optimus Prime are permanently unobtainable because of this longstanding exclusivity. While those past skins will remain exclusive, new battle-pass items will not be. This change marks a necessary long-term shift in Epic's strategy for Fortnite as it continues to grow into a larger ecosystem. Battle pass exclusivity made sense for a fledgling battle royale, but it makes less sense for a full-blown metaverse.
In it's announcement about the change, Epic specifically noted licensed characters as a reason for the move. "We want players down the road to enjoy battle-pass content such as Outfits based on popular licensed characters," Epic's statement read.
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