UPDATE 3/23/21 4:00 PM UK: Fortnite will refund all purchases for the Wild music track, an Epic spokesman told Eurogamer. The item should not have been included in the in-game store, the company confirmed, and its appearance did not constitute a change in the rules on the exclusivity of battle pass items.
The Item Shop version of the Wild Lobby Track will be removed from the cabinets. (The Battle Pass Reward version will remain for players who unlock it.)
Players who purchased or gifted the Item Shop version will receive the V-Bucks they have spent. pic.twitter.com/5jH2sX6S9T
– Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) March 23, 2021
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ORIGINAL STORY 12h UK: Epic Games updated the Fortnite game store to remove an item released last night that comes from the game’s current battle pass.
The music track Wild, which features the soundtrack to Fortnite’s recent Zero Crisis Finale event, was available for purchase for several hours. Currently, it is part of the battle step of Chapter 2, Season 6, as your level 70 reward.
In more than three years, Fortnite has never sold a battle pass reward separately through the in-game store – and this breaks an important promise made by Epic that battle pass items will never be sold separately on a date later.
Fans quickly began to notice a change in Epic’s rules, and a company spokesman soon confirmed that the song would be removed.
“It shouldn’t be there,” wrote gstaffEpic on reddit / FortNiteBR. “We are going to get you out of the store.”
An hour later, Epic used its Fortnite Status Twitter account to issue an official statement:
“The Wild Lobby banner was made available at the Item Shop today, although it is also a Battle Pass Reward,” wrote Epic. “We realized that this was a mistake and will be removing it from the Item Shop.”
The Wild Lobby trail was made available at the Item Shop today, although it is also a Battle Pass Reward. We realized that this was a mistake and will remove it from the Item Shop. pic.twitter.com/aZi94OKdTA
– Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) March 23, 2021
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So what happened? Epic did not explain the matter any further, although it is clear that it was not just a last-minute mess. The release of the music track Wild was tweeted through posts now deleted on the game’s social channels with animated samples of the track. It was also uploaded separately on the game’s YouTube for you to listen to – and is still live, below.
An explanation suggested by some fans is that Wild was originally planned as a store item to be exchanged for the battle passage at the last moment – and only after the content of the game items store and social posts were booked in advance. If true, it would mean that Epic decides what to sell at the popular Fortnite game store weeks in advance and then schedules everything at that point.
In 2019, Epic was forced to turn around with the launch of Gunner, a new-skinned pet dog that was almost identical to one that was part of a battle pass.
“We shouldn’t have launched the Gunner Pet and apologize for that,” said Epic at the time. Gunner was refunded and then removed from the Fortnite archives completely, never to return.
Epic has not yet refunded Wild’s purchases, although it should do so soon. We contacted the company for more information.