Fortnite players revolt over V-Bucks changes as Epic devs appeal for calm: ‘Paying the bills frees up our teams to continue driving stories and building stuff you love’

Fortnite announced this week that V-Bucks—the last remaining currency with any goddamn dependability around here—were about to get more expensive. “The cost of running Fortnite has gone up a lot and we’re raising prices to help pay the bills,” said Epic.

I’m not a Fortniter (no reflexes at my age, you see), but given the size of the game, my assumption is this news had an economic impact roughly equivalent to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Anyway, you might be surprised to hear the announcement didn’t exactly wash with fans, who seem remarkably unfazed by Epic Games’ rising gas bill and what-have-you. The community reaction was immediate, dramatic, and decidedly unthrilled at the notion of spending the same amount of money to get fewer V-Bucks. Some cancelled their Fortnite Crew subs (the Crew grant now only totals 800 V-Bucks, as opposed to 1,000), some vented on social media, some are attempting to organise a boycott under the slogan “You cut our V-Bucks. We cut your funding.”

As an entity, Epic’s been pretty stoic about the backlash and didn’t comment on the matter when I reached out, but at least a couple of Fortnite devs have been out and about on social media trying to quell the rage. “Seeing comments like ‘the Item Shop is the main focus instead of the game’ hits me really hard,” wrote Andre Balta, Epic’s senior director for ecosystem growth, on X.

“It’s not the impression we want to give nor how we focus our efforts. We put a ton of work and care into Fortnite’s gameplay and this focus is only growing. Paying the bills frees up our teams to continue driving stories and building stuff you love.” Ted Timmins, Fortnite’s design director, likewise chimed in to echo those sentiments.

But the horse seems to have bolted, and I’m not sure anything Epic could say—beyond “fine okay we won’t make V-Bucks more expensive”—would mollify the angriest players at this point, who are currently agitating for a boycott of the game on March 19. And, yes, there are plenty of other players wondering if a one-day boycott will actually do anything, and suggesting a longer one instead.

If you’re anything like me, videogame boycotts are something you greet with a hearty “Yeah yeah, sure thing buddy.” The history of attempted boycotts in this mould—out of anger from proposed changes to monetisation or gameplay—is long and inglorious, and I can’t summon a single example of one succeeding to mind. I don’t even mean succeeding in its aims, I mean succeeding at actually getting anyone to boycott anything, even if they agree to.

But anything’s possible. Perhaps the Fortnite community will succeed where everyone else has failed. Players certainly seem angry enough.