Fortnite developer Epic Games have responded to accusations of price gouging from the game’s community, following an outpouring of anger regarding the price of the skins included in the Avatar: The Last Airbender crossover event.
Long-time fans of Fortnite will know that crossover events are a regular occurrence, and with Avatar holding a special place in the hearts of many, the community was excited to get their hands on the new cosmetics when they dropped as part of the April 9 Fortnite patch. That hype quickly turned to anger, however, when fans realized the skins would cost 2,000 V-Bucks each, which is around $16.
The frustration was compounded by an announcement which revealed Epic’s plan to remove rarities from cosmetics sold in the Item Store. Fortnite players immediately accused the developer of canning rarities to charge the community exorbitant prices for skins.
“The new Avatar skins are at a [much higher price] than they should be, and now the rarity of cosmetics has been removed precisely, so Epic can charge more for skins that are not worth the price,” wrote one frustrated gamer. Others singled out the fact that the skins don’t even come with multiplayer styles as their biggest point of anger, asking: “2,000 V-Bucks each yet not even a single edit style, what are we paying this much for?”
In response, Epic Games community manager Sean McIntosh replied that he “appreciated the feedback” and wanted to clarify that “our approach to the way we price things isn’t change because of the removal of color labelling from Shop items. We just [want to] simplify Fortnite‘s appearance across the locker.”
That response didn’t fly with Fortnite fans on Reddit, however, who called it a “complete lie” and pointed out that no one had “asked for the rarities to be removed.” McIntosh did not reply to any of the responses to his clarification, but when Destructoid reached out to Epic Games for comment, they pointed to their official blog where they went in-depth on the decision to scrap the rarities.
From a fan perspective, it’s understandable that fans would see Epic removing cosmetic rarities on the same day they charge 2,000 V-Bucks for the skin as related and upsetting. For me, I find it especially tough to wrap my head around, considering that for the price of two Avatar skins, you could buy a full game like Helldivers 2.
It’s unclear whether Epic will adjust pricing or backtrack on their plans to remove cosmetic rarities from Fortnite following this backlash. We’ll be sure to keep you updated as information becomes available.
