For the first time since 2023, Epic Games is increasing the price of Fortnite V-Bucks, with the change going into effect March 19. But unlike last time, when Epic simply made each V-Buck pack cost a few dollars more, the changes this time are a lot more complicated and warrant a bit of a discussion. You can read Epic’s announcement here, and we’ll run through the changes in depth below so you can understand them a little better.
1. You get fewer V-Bucks for your money
Instead of raising the prices of the different tiers of V-Buck packs in Fortnite, Epic is decreasing the amount of V-Bucks you get for your money–the $9 pack will grant 800 V-Bucks instead of 1,000, the $23 pack will grant 2,400 instead of 2,800, the $36 pack will include 4,500 instead of 5,000, and the $90 pack will include 12,500 instead of 13,500.
It’s the change to that second pack that’s going to be the most impactful, because there have been many cosmetic bundles that cost between 2,500 and 2,800 V-Bucks, and now folks may need to buy a more expensive pack of V-Bucks or use the new “Exact Amount” top-up feature to buy those bundles. Unfortunately, the top-up is also about to become significantly pricier itself.
2. The new top-up purchase costs more
Epic is doubling the price of the top-up feature, at least for the base rate. The way the “Exact Amount” purchase works is that if you want to buy a cosmetic in the shop that you don’t have enough V-Bucks for, it will offer you the chance to buy the specific amount of V-Bucks you need.
Before the change, if you needed 300 extra V-Bucks, you’d pay $3 for it–only a slightly worse value than buying a bundle of 1,000 V-Bucks for $9. After the change, however, 300 V-Bucks will cost $6 ($2 per 100 V-Bucks), which is a lot worse than buying 800 V-Bucks for $9 ($1.12 per 100 V-Bucks).
The way it is now, the price of the purchase depends on how much you get. It costs $1 per 100 V-Bucks if you’re buying less than 1,000, and from there the price scales based on the “exchange rate” of each pack of V-Bucks. So if you needed to buy 3,500 V-Bucks, you’d get the same price per V-Buck as the pack that costs $23 (about $.83 per 100 V-Bucks). So you’d pay about $29 for that.
The Exact Purchase will be a bit more mathematically complicated after March 19, per an Epic spokesperson speaking with GameSpot. We’re told that, when using the Exact Amount feature to top up on V-Bucks, you’ll essentially be paying two different rates within the same transaction. If you were to buy 3,000 V-Bucks using the top-up feature, for example, you’d have to pay $35 in total. That’s $23 for the first 2,400, and the top-up rate of a $1 per 50 V-Bucks for the remaining 600, which adds up to another $12.
The good news is that there’s a price cap on these purchases–you’ll never be charged more than the next tier of V-Buck pack, which in this example is 4,500 for $37. So when using the Exact Amount feature to buy V-Bucks, all amounts between 3,200 and 4,400 will cost the same price: $36.49.
There’s a similar cap for each tier of V-Bucks when topping up. Amounts under 800 V-Bucks are capped at $8.49, and amounts under 2,400 V-Bucks cap at $22.49. The Exact Amount feature cannot be used for anything over 4,500 V-Bucks, since nothing in Fortnite costs more than that.
3. The battle pass gives fewer V-Bucks back
One of the hypothetical positives of these changes is that the price of the battle pass, music pass, OG pass, and Lego pass will all cost 200 V-Bucks less. It’s a move that’s actually intended more to keep the real-money value of those passes the same rather than make them cheaper. For example, the battle pass will only cost 800 V-Bucks instead of 1,000, but the real-money price will remain exactly the same at $9.
Meanwhile, a much more significant change is coming to the battle pass: Starting with the Chapter 7 Season 2 pass, each battle pass will only include 800 V-Bucks that you can earn back–down from the 1,500 that has been included with every previous full-length battle pass, and the 1,000 that came with smaller battle pass from mini-seasons, like last year’s Star Wars and Simpsons seasons.
Getting 700 fewer V-Bucks on each pass adds up–we’re looking at 2,800 fewer-V-Bucks per year from full-length passes, and a few hundred more lost if Fortnite has new mini-seasons.
4. Fortnite Crew loses significant value
While the $12-a-month price will be unchanged, Fortnite Crew will offer 800 V-Bucks each month, down from 1,000–that’s 2,400 fewer V-Bucks per year for those who stay subscribed. Combined with the changes to V-Bucks on the battle pass, you’re looking at over 5,000 fewer V-Bucks each year from being subscribed to Crew.
Let us explain it a little differently. In Chapter 6, you could earn 20,000 V-Bucks if you subscribed to Fortnite Crew for the duration–that’s 1,000 each month, 1,500 each from four long battle passes, and 1,000 each from the Star Wars and Simpsons mini-seasons. Under the new price scheme, you’d only be able to earn about 14,400 V-Bucks from all that. That’s a significant nerf.
It’s worth pointing out, however, that Crew will still be an excellent value, and the most cost-effective way to get the various passes. Crew will remain the best bang for your buck in Fortnite.
