Fortnite’s Plan To Survive GTA 6 Is Finally Revealed: Make Everything Free

Exceptions to the freebies include anything bought with real money, such as V-Bucks and some skin bundles, as well as battle-pass levels. You also can’t claim more than one Sidekick (pets and other small characters that stay with you during rounds), and you can’t gift items to other players for free either, as you may have guessed. 

It may seem like a long list of exceptions, but Fortnite’s Item Shop has grown to be massive in recent years. With 100+ songs perpetually available for $5 each, and dozens of emotes, skins, and other cosmetics cycling in every day, anyone lucky enough to claim a pair of tokens for themselves is in for a massive haul of stuff that would’ve cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars by the time their two weeks are up.

That second token is a clever way to extend the hype deeper into the post-GTA 6 world we’re all about to live in starting on November 19, since this whole promo is clearly Epic’s way of dealing with Rockstar’s game. The most formidable threat to Fortnite’s place atop the proverbial video game popularity mountain is nearly here. Epic needed something massive to keep players coming back, both in November and beyond. It felt like no collaboration, in-game event, or any of Fortnite’s usual levers would be big enough on its own. But free everything? That’ll help, at least. 

Along with the early hype that accompanies any new season, plus the One Piece tie-in, Fortnite’s battle royale modes are being played by about 2 million players during daytime US hours. That’s about four times as many players as were playing on average in October. By giving it all the feeling of hitting the lottery, Epic is lapping up hype from Fortnite obsessives, casuals, and brand-new players alike. 

Will it be enough to keep the hype going after Rockstar’s future record-setter debuts? For many players, it won’t be, but presumably some players will still carve out time for Fortnite in ways they wouldn’t have before, even if only for a round or two before switching back to GTA 6.

Anecdotally, I’ll tell you my son, who likes Fortnite but doesn’t tend to play it weekly, spent much of last night researching strategies to find the Item Shop Token, then playing several rounds, reigniting a zeal for the game he hasn’t had in a few years. He seems determined to min-max his chances at claiming one of the prizes for himself. 

It’s unclear how many players will win the prize, but until Epic turns that faucet off, he and others like him will be sprinting from chest to chest, hoping one of them bestows Fortnite’s unprecedented GTA-countering prize.