The latest season of Fortnite, subtitled Galactic Battle, takes us to a galaxy far, far away, as the universe of Star Wars collaborates with the battle royale of Fortnite for an entire season of crossover cosmetics, quests and more. I’ve been having a great time mastering the ways of the force, using the infinite ammo blasters, and overall just feeling like I’m playing a Fortnite hybrid of Star Wars Battlefront 3. It’s a great time, but one of Fortnite’s biggest issues with its Battle Pass system has never been more obvious: locking franchise skins behind former Battle Passes has become a problem.
Fortnite arguably made their name from crossovers and collaborations with other IP, it has been a key aspect of the Fortnite journey since its first few seasons, and overtime has grown exponentially. We’re even at the point now where Disney has invested over a billion dollars in Epic Games, in part to contribute towards a massive digital expansion of its IP, particularly in Fortnite. We see some of that payoff right now with the current Star Wars season, but key playable characters are missing because Fortnite gated them behind a previous, now unobtainable Battle Pass. Not only was this a problem in the past, but it’s getting more noticeable as time goes on.
Somehow, Darth Vader hasn’t returned
The biggest example of the Battle Pass exclusivity problem has to be Darth Vader. The iconic Sith Lord, perhaps the most recognizable villain in cinema history, was included as part of a Battle Pass with Fortnite Chapter 3, Season 3: Vibin’. The Vibin’ season was available between June and September 2022, and saw the arrival of Darth Vader both in Fortnite lore and as an available cosmetic. Those that didn’t play Fortnite in that season will never be able to play as the standard Darth Vader, as Epic has shown strong aversion to making Battle Pass cosmetics available for sale outside of their original Battle Pass, which itself expires as soon as the season ends.
It’s an entire season of Star Wars-themed Fortnite, but many new players, or returning ones that just didn’t play the Vibin’ season, are restricted to needing to use a Samurai variant of Darth Vader from the item shop if they want to play as the legendary villain. It’s somewhat absurd if you think about it, that Disney and Epic Games are investing billions into pushing new ‘metaverse’-style experiences, but players will never be able to be Darth Vader unless they played Fortnite within a four month period in 2022.
This isn’t just the ramblings of someone who’s mad they didn’t get Vader when they had the chance – I’ve been an active Fortnite player since 2018, and it’s my original Darth Vader skin I’m currently using in this latest Fortnite season! I enjoy having an exclusive item, but I still recognise how bizarre it is that I get to be Darth Vader in this Star Wars-themed season, but everyone else has to settle for a Samurai variant unless they played in the same time I did in the past.
This isn’t the only Star Wars character missing in-game right now, as The Mandalorian himself is unavailable to all players unless they played even earlier in Fortnite Chapter 2, Season 5: Zero Point. This season was released between December 2020 and March 2021, and added both The Mandalorian and his ‘baby Yoda’ child Grogu as a Back Bling Pet, which you guessed it, are now both completely unobtainable. Fortnite will again be trying to get around this former exclusivity issue by releasing a variant that is a customizable generic Mandalorian, rather than the Mandalorian, Din Djarin. Variants can only get us so far however, as the default, most iconic appearances of these characters are only available to those who played the game at a certain time.
Marvel’s Multiversal Mess-Up
It’s not just a Star Wars problem, the exclusivity of iconic characters in former Battle Passes suddenly being completely unavailable in a season they’re needed absolutely plagues the Marvel crossovers. You see, between August and December of 2020, Fortnite Chapter 2, Season 4: Nexus War featured an entire Battle Pass of Marvel characters. This one season completely wiped out some incredible default looks for Thor, She-Hulk, Groot, Storm, Doctor Doom, Mystique, Wolverine and Iron Man. That last one in particular hurts, as the MCU design of Iron Man looks incredible in-game, but the Mk 45 suit remains locked behind the Battle Pass. Other heroes have also appeared in other Battle Passes, such as Doctor Strange.
Sure, we’ve got item shop variants of a bunch of these heroes by now, but they don’t hit the same as the original design. Whilst it may be a cool visual design, it’s lame that Wolverine needs to be in a cel-shaded hand-drawn ink style to be playable, instead of his far more popular traditional design. The same applies to Iron Man, and his far less impressive other suits that are sold in the item shop, because five entire years ago Epic signed these heroes off forever for everyone else.
Mistake acknowledged, but not yet fixed
Epic themselves have acknowledged this mistake, changing their Battle Pass system starting in July of 2024 to make it so that the Fortnite item shop can sell Battle Pass items after a minimum of 18 months from the expiration of the season’s Battle Pass. Epic states themselves in the Q&A that “one reason for this change is that we want players down the road to enjoy Battle Pass content such as Outfits based on popular licensed characters.” It’s clear they see the mistake they made in the past, but it continues to haunt them now as they keep doing crossover themed seasons.
Its been so long since some releases, such as the Nexus War season of 2020 when some key Marvel characters were introduced, that we kinda wish Fortnite would let some of their old cosmetics come back. Speaking as somebody with many ‘rare’ skins dating as far back as 2018, it’s not fun that players who weren’t able to play for whatever reason five years ago have to miss out on such iconic characters now. I don’t know if or when Fortnite will ever find a way around this mistake besides their release of variant skins, but I hope more people can enjoy these characters that deserve to be loved and shared by all.
Do you agree with our assessment of Fortnite’s biggest mistake with their Battle Pass system? Would you support Battle Pass cosmetics returning to the item shop after so long, or should they remain exclusive forever? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and keep your eyes on GameLuster for more breaking gaming news.
