Fortnite FOMO, or fear of missing out, might be decreasing soon. Epic Games, the company behind the popular game, has changed its policy on Battle Pass Skins. Previously, the cosmetic items that change a character's appearance featured in paid Battle Passes were not available for individual purchase in the Fortnite Store. Now, Epic says, some of those may be available 18 months after a Battle Pass expires.

The item exclusivity change affects timed Battle Passes going forward, making Skins more readily available to players who don't purchase Battle Passes or may have missed one that included a desired Skin. Unfortunately, the change is not retroactive; we won't be seeing the return of popular Battle Pass Skins such as Hades or Deadpool. Items that are available as Battle Pass Quests after a Battle Pass has expired may also be made available after 18 months.

Some of the items that could also end up in the store after 18 months include, "Outfits, Back Blings, Pickaxes, Emotes, Instruments, Decals, Wraps, Loading Screens, Banner Icons and more," Epic says.

Pricing of Battle Passes won't change, they'll still be 950 V-Bucks, or $8.49.

Fortnite continues to be hugely popular, with about 650 million users as of the end of 2023, and at least a million and a half active players daily. The game is free to play, but purchasing Battle Passes unlocks special challenges and bonus items.

Even with this opening up of Skins, there's no promise that they will all show up in the Store, even after 18 months. Epic says that there's no guarantee every Skin will be offered up for sale, and some alt styles, different versions of Skins, may be different than what users received in the Battle Pass.

Epic Games is making a major change to Fortnite’s battle passes that should remove some angst if you can’t buy or complete a pass before the end of a season.

Fortnite’s battle passes offer a bunch of exclusive in-game rewards that you can only obtain during an individual season, but that means you might miss out on rewards entirely if you can’t level up enough or don’t buy the pass before it expires. To help alleviate that pressure, Epic announced on Wednesday that items from future battle passes might be available for purchase in Fortnite’s item shop at least 18 months after the pass expires.

Epic’s battle pass policy adjustment is intended in part to let people buy outfits featuring licensed crossovers, even if they miss a season’s battle pass, the company writes in its blog post. (Some of the game’s best skins, like Iron Man and the Mandalorian, have only been available to players who bought previous battle passes featuring those characters.)

Every type of item in a battle pass is eligible to show up in the shop, Epic says, including “Outfits, Back Blings, Pickaxes, Emotes, Instruments, Decals, Wraps, Loading Screens, Banner Icons, and more.” However, items from battle passes won’t be guaranteed to show up in the item shop after that 18-month window, so if you see something you want, you should probably get it while the pass is still available.

This change will kick in with the game’s next season, Epic spokesperson Stephanie Thoensen tells The Verge. The current season ends on August 16th. The new season is rumored to be Marvel-themed and could feature Doctor Doom, which would make some sense.

Fortnite Battle Pass Skins: A New Era Of Accessibility

Battle Pass exclusivity will soon be a thing of the past in Fortnite, as Epic Games has confirmed that items released in future Battle Passes will have a chance of showing up in the Item Shop at a later date. While the response to this has generally been positive, fans are still hoping that things might one day go a step further.

Cosmetics released in Battle Passes have previously only been available by unlocking them during that season, meaning that loads of skins and emotes are no longer obtainable if you didn't play at the time. This is especially frustrating when you consider how many major collab skins have been released in this way – Spider-Man, Geralt, Eren Jaeger, Darth Vader, The Mandalorian… the list goes on. The great news is that this might not be so much of an issue going forward, but the fact remains that all of those old, highly sought-after skins are still lost to the exclusivity void.

"Should've been ALL Battle Passes, not just future ones," one player says, responding to the news on Reddit. "Hopefully they see how much support this move gets and bring back the rest."

"A good first step, but not what people were asking for," another agrees. "It's ignoring the people who want the old Battle Pass content. This is great for the future, but the old content is still locked, which is not what anyone was suggesting."

"This really should affect old passes as well," adds another.

At this point, Epic Games hasn't said anything to indicate that this could happen, although due to a bug yesterday (coincidentally before the Battle Pass changes were announced), an exclusive, limited-time skin that was first sold in the Item Shop almost five years ago temporarily returned. Epic quickly pulled the skin from the store, and said that anyone who managed to buy it in that brief period of time would be refunded, with the skin removed from their accounts. However, the developer soon backtracked and is allowing the lucky few to keep hold of it, with a new variant of the skin to be delivered to old purchasers some time in the future.

Needless to say, there's a lot of demand for Epic to do away with exclusive cosmetics altogether so that everyone can get their hands on their favorites, regardless of when they started playing. We'll just have to wait and see what happens, but the alteration that's coming into play from next season is certainly a good start.

Fortnite’s Future: A More Inclusive Gaming Experience

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.

So here's the nitty gritty of this. Starting with the Chapter 5 Season 4 battle pass, Epic will have the option to sell battle-pass cosmetics 18 months after the season ends. It doesn't mean it definitely will sell everything in the shop right way or at all, but they'll have the option to do so. They may also declare that certain items in a pass will be exclusive, but they will be clearly labeled as such when that happens.

Meanwhile, it sounds as though purchasing battle-pass skins in the shop will be expensive--Epic indicates that each style of a skin will have to be purchased separately. But even though this change is being announced now, it'll be nearly two years before we actually see how this works. It's not currently even possible for Fortnite to sell skins the way this announcement describes, so there's some major work to be done.

While it would be easy to blame to recent item shop anomalies for forcing this change--namely the accidental sale of a battle-pass song last week, and the accidental return of The Paradigm on Tuesday--it could be that this was already a planned change ahead of the new season. Chapter 5 Season 4 has long been rumored to be a new Marvel-focused season, with a pass consisting entirely of Marvel characters--exactly the sort of situation that would warrant this change.

The Future Of Exclusivity In Fortnite

Fortnite is making a huge change when it comes to items acquired in the battle pass. Fortnite has historically never allowed battle pass items to be obtainable after they expire, but many fans have been asking for a way to obtain items they never had the chance to get.

Fortnite is well known for its huge crossovers with major IPs such as Marvel, DC, Fallout, Star Wars, and more. Some of these collaborations contain content that is only available in the battle pass, which expires at the end of a season. Once the battle pass is gone, items like the power armor from Fallout are no longer available for players to acquire.

All of that may change after Epic Games that certain battle pass items may be offered in the shop after 18 months or more from their battle pass’ expiration. The blog post specifically mentions letting players enjoy outfits based on licensed properties. Meaning that skins like the battle pass exclusive Darth Vader may make their return in the item shop in the future.

Outfits, emotes, pickaxes, instruments, wraps, loading screens, jam tracks, and more from previous battle passes are all eligible to be in the item shop at a later date. However, there is no guarantee that any particular battle pass item will come to the shop after this change comes into practice. It’s important to note that some collaborations don’t always have all their items restricted to the battle pass. Such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collab, which has all four turtles rotating in the item shop.

The items that will be available for purchase again may also have their alternate styles available, which are usually minor changes a player can make to a particular skin. Items in other tabs tied to the battle pass, such as bonus rewards and quest rewards like the Chapter 5 Season 3 Magneto skin, will also have a chance to become purchasable in the item shop 18 months or more in the future. This won’t make the price of the battle pass change, with it still only costing 950 V-Bucks. Players who buy the battle pass have the ability to earn up to 1,500 V-Bucks by leveling it up.

The Next Chapter For Fortnite

While the change to battle pass exclusivity is certainly a big one, it's not the only thing that's been happening in the world of Fortnite lately. The game has been busy adding new content and features, including a new creative mode, a new battle royale map, and a new season pass. It's clear that Epic Games is still committed to supporting Fortnite and keeping it fresh for players. As the game continues to evolve, we can expect to see even more changes and surprises in the future.