If Fortnite's insanely popular battle royale mode is totally
free, then how is Epic Games making millions of dollars off of their game each
month? The answer: swag. Specifically weapons, emotes, and skins at a premium
price from the item shop. One can play the game without spending a single
penny, but look pretty plain while doing it. Of course, some skins are gifted
to players as a result of gathering experience, but others only appear as paid
content available for limited windows of time. Kids need to have their parents'
credit card information at the ready or risk losing out on some seriously cool
skins.
A typical skin is going to make a little less than a $9 dent
in one's wallet. But Epic makes sure that its more expensive outfits are
entirely worth the price. That said, sometimes Epic doesn't have a say in how
expensive skins become on the black market of the internet. As Fortnite forges
on, more and more skins are becoming rare and thus increasing in value, which
can translate to hundreds of dollars on eBay and other places around the 'net.
Leviathan and other legendaries
For patient players who want to play by the book, they can
simply wait diligently for their favorite skins to appear and pay the official
price. Legendary skins with their legendarily iconic and zany looks clock in at
2,000 V-Bucks, or $20. These are the skins that cosplayers revel in. Chomp Sr.,
Ravage, Raven, Cuddle Team Leader, and the Moisty Merman are all fairly rare,
but fairly priced. If players are able to grab them before they're gone, that
is: these skins are only available in the item shop for brief periods.
Epic Games might be meeting, and exceeding, earnings goals
by dusting off old outfits that haven't been spotted in the item shop for
months. This was the case with the Leviathan skin that captured players'
attention and wallets. The Leviathan outfit is one of the most uniquely
designed skins, a perfect balance of whimsy and science fiction. Released with
the Space Explorers set, the Leviathan skin is a space suit topped with a round
helmet, a snaggle-toothed fish swimming around inside. And for just 2,000
V-Bucks, who doesn't want to become a sentient fish in a space suit?
Nog Ops
The thing that makes holidays special is how fleeting the
festivities are. Coming only once a year, everyone has to appreciate the season
before it's gone. Epic Games hoped for the same when releasing a total of six
wintery skins in the Merry Christmas set. These skins were intermittently
available to players in the Christmas spirit from December to January. Come
February, they disappeared with the last of the belatedly stored decorations
and curdled egg nog.
Initially, the Fortnite community was sure that Christmas
would come back in July, and that the Crackshot, Codename E.L.F., Yuletide
Ranger, and Nog Ops outfits would return in all their be-sweatered glory. That
turned out to be merely rumor, and so listings online for Fortnite accounts
featuring these rare skins remained valuable. If players really can't wait
until the yuletide, they can find the Christmas skins priced anywhere between
$100 and $350 on eBay.
Skull Trooper
Upon release for Halloween, the Skull Trooper was a steal at
just 1,200 V-Bucks. Players could treat themselves to this tricked out skin
that paired perfectly with the menacing gleam of a scythe. The Skull Trooper
was an ideal Halloween costume: black combat gear painted with not entirely
anatomically correct bones, and grinning skull face paint. It was all the rage
of the spooky season and players scrambled to get one before they were gone —
because as Epic Games has demonstrated time and again, once a skin is gone from
item shop rotation, it would take a miracle to find it again.
Or a couple thousand bucks. Out there on the internet, savvy
sales sharks recognize the power the Karate Kid-inspired Skull Trooper pulls.
Which is why people unabashedly list Fortnite accounts featuring this
resurrected skin for thousands of dollars. The Skull Trooper is the consistent
centerpiece for outrageously priced accounts. These sellers know that the
maxxed out Ragnarok skin is just a bonus beside the dead-eyed Halloween skin.
What was once a cheap thrill, the Skull Trooper skin can be
found for $4,950. While this might seem ridiculous, these accounts are selling
all the time, some with upwards of 40 bids for the rarest of skin collections,
the grin of the Skull Trooper at the center of it all.
Galaxy skin
Fortnite players might get tripped up by the sheer dazzle
the Galaxy skin shines with. The epitome of the galaxy-print fad, the galaxy
skin is not named after the firmament of stars and space dust that make up this
spaceman, but rather the phone it is promoting.
Everyone and their phone provider wants to get in on the
Fortnite craze. Samsung was more than happy to join in, especially when Epic
Games took the game mobile and made it available for Android. If players
pre-ordered or purchased a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 phone or a Galaxy Tab S4 tablet,
then they too could be the proud owners of this glowing god of outer space.
The Galaxy skin is one of the rarest of this list, not
because of its limited availability, but because of the price tag. These aren't
cheap devices that come with the code for the Galaxy skin. Disregarding the
price tag associated with service plans, the Galaxy Note 9 is a whopping $999.
Depending on memory size, the tablet isn't much cheaper.
For those who need a new phone anyway, the Galaxy skin comes
with the additional temptation of 10,000 free (big asterisk on
"free") V-Bucks.
Rose Team Leader and Warpaint
Despite what worried Australian talk shows might say,
Fortnite is about more than kids killing each other in ever-increasingly
creative ways. In fact, the play mode that garners the most attention is fairly
new considering how long Fortnite has been in development. Fortnite's famous
battle royale mode was belatedly added after the genre saw record-breaking
success. This play mode rode its way to success by providing fast, fun, and
creative play at the very low price of absolutely free.
The developer's original vision for the game as a
player-vs-environment game isn't free. The "Save the World" PvE
campaign featured in the standard Founder's Pack is priced like any AAA title
might be, cheaper even at just $40. While $40 might seem pricey, considering
that one could buy two legendary skins for the same amount of V-Bucks, those
who purchased the Founder's Pack were later treated with two ultra-rare skins:
the Rose Team Leader and Warpaint.
Warpaint is a military-style echo of the Skull Trooper skin
and the Rose Team Leader is a pink-tinged boss ready to flex her skills.
Exclusive to those who went beyond the battle royale mode, these outfits are
worth it for those who want to find out what the plot behind Fortnite actually
is.
Royale Bomber
Chances are, the average Fortnite player isn't about to buy
a new console just to play Fortnite. They've already been playing on the myriad
of other platforms: console, PC, mobile. Fortnite is even on the Nintendo
Switch, as loathe as Sony is to acknowledge. But those who are looking to
play exclusively on the PS4 are in luck: there's a super exclusive skin waiting
for you.
The Royale Bomber was only available in Europe to Fortnite players
who had a couple hundred Euros to blow on the PlayStation 4 Fortnite Bundle;
later, he was also made available to American players via a PS4 controller
bundle. This pilot-turned-skirmisher is handsome, but unobtainable by players
on any other system, or outside of these regions. The pursuit of this outfit
could get seriously pricey if any Asian players are desperate enough to head
across the pond for the sake of this skin.
Blue Team Leader
Proud PlayStation players of Fortnite can show off their PS4
pride with a PS4-exclusive skin. Blue Team Leader and her signature
Dualshock-themed glider Blue Streak come free with a PlayStation Plus
subscription. This Celebration Pack was available to anyone with the PS Plus
subscription for absolutely zero dollars and zero cents. The kicker here is
that Fortnite players have to be paying for a PlayStation Plus subscription,
which just keeps getting more and more expensive.
Originally, a year's time with the subscription would cost
$50, but this price has recently increased by ten dollars. If a diehard
Fortnite skin collector was truly desperate, then it would be possible for them
to buy just a month of PlayStation Plus for the reasonable price of ten
dollars. Unless they don't already have a PS4. If not, then the $10 price tag
on Blue Team Leader increases by a whole $300. Worth it? Maybe if you're a big
fan of blue.
Power Chord
The pink-haired punk rocker known as the Power Chord outfit
is a legendary skin just like the Leviathan or Raven skins. She's got an double
dose of glam to make up for her $20 price tag. The spike-crowned queen of the
Volume 11 set, the Power Chord skin is the envy of outfit aficionados.
Previously, this skin had appeared only twice, so those not paying attention to
the noise of the Fortnite community may have missed out on this skin and the
much sought after Six String Back Bling.
Worry not: where there's a rare skin, there's an auction on
eBay. Despite Power Chord's recent return to the item shop after some cryptic
emojis were tweeted by Epic Games, this $475 listing on eBay featuring the
rockstar herself hasn't budged on price. The Volume 11 set, complete with Rock
Out emote and Stage Dive glider was so popular that Fortnite fans took to
petitioning Epic Games for the return of their favorite
singer/songwriter/brawler. It's unclear, and unlikely, that this is what swayed
Epic to reinstate the Power Chord skin into the item shop, but her return has
clearly swayed players' budgets.
Havoc and Sub Commander
Some of the biggest buzz about Fortnite has been generated
through streaming. Twitch is the undisputed king of streaming platforms, and
Fortnite has surpassed League of Legends as its most streamed game. So a
team-up between the two was inevitable. Thus the Twitch Prime Pack was born.
The bundle included the Havoc and Sub Commander skins: dark, covert ops-themed
outfits with just a dash of Twitch's iconic purple. Additionally, players were
gifted some gear that matched their hardcore looks.
To get this bundle, players had to connect their Epic Games
account to their Twitch Prime account before May 9, 2018. After that, the deal
disappeared. Twitch Prime — and by extension these skins — come at the price of
an Amazon Prime subscription, which runs at $119 a year. This gives gamers the
benefit of one free channel subscription on Twitch every thirty days. Twitch
Prime, if purchased separately from Amazon Prime, is a slightly more expensive
$13 per month, and if you're not into ads popping up while watching a favorite
streamer, then there's the additional cost of Twitch Turbo at $9 a month.
Considering all the hassle and fees and keeping track of
subscriptions, these skins are more expensive than an average legendary skin.
The Havoc and Sub Commander skins from the Twitch Prime bundle become instantly
more expensive if players forget to cancel their numerous subscriptions before
free or paid trails run out.
Tricera Ops and Rex
No one likes to break up a couple, and everyone loves
dinosaurs. Strapped-for-cash Fortnite players are then met with a dilemma when
it comes to two legendary skins. Buy the Rex skin? Or the delightfully punny
Tricera Ops skin? Got $40? Why not both?
The Dino Guard set isn't the least expensive of skins, but
is one of he most popular for capturing the fun, cartoonish whimsy that
Fortnite does so well. The Rex outfit, or the "Reptar" skin as the
community likes to call it, comes bundled with the Scaly Back Bling. The
Tricera Ops skin is the female counterpart to the Rex skin, and is basically
someone wearing a triceratops cosplay. She is similarly bundled with the
ultra-adorable Hatchling Back Bling, which is irresistible for those who love
stuffed animals — furry or scaly.
It's entirely up to players whether or not to spend the
extra money on skins, but the Dino Guard illustrate what makes Fortnite stand
out among a market that's steadily becoming flooded with the same concept:
players hiding from and shooting at each other until there is only one
standing. Fortnite gives players the bonus of being dressed as a dinosaur while
doing it.
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