'Pay-to-win’ Fortnite called out by angry players
Fortnite is accused of being 'pay-to-win', with the fan-favourite Reload mode highlighting a potential issue where players can stay alive indefinitely.
31st Jul 2024 15:55
Images via Epic Games
'Pay-to-win’ Fortnite called out by angry players
Fortnite is accused of being 'pay-to-win', with the fan-favourite Reload mode highlighting a potential issue where players can stay alive indefinitely.
31st Jul 2024 15:55
Images via Epic Games
When you hear about pay-to-win scandals in modern shooters, you tend to think of Call of Duty: Warzone. Every now and then, Epic Games will get pulled into the argument with Fortnite, but typically, the colourful cartoon caper's more simplistic nature sees it avoid these issues.
Now, a concerning Fortnite clip once again suggests the game could be pay-to-win, or at least involve some pay-to-win mechanics. Basically, if you have enough money, it seems you can stay alive indefinitely when playing the game's recent Reload mode.
Fortnite accused of being pay-to-win
Highlighted on the FortniteBR Reddit, u/Chickens-Make-Nugget shared a clip that proves money really does make the world go round. The whole point of Reload is that your team stays alive as long as one of you is still in the game. When downed, you can speed up the automatic reboot process by sacrificing yourself.
The clip shows a downed player crawling toward a vending machine and using their gold to continually replenish their health. While it's true that they remain downed and their reboot timer stays at 30 seconds, it would be possible for them to wait it out until a teammate comes to revive them - as long as they remain undiscovered.
Two of the player's teammates also get downed, but by staying alive, it's given them enough time to get back in the game. Although some questioned the usefulness of the clip, the OP goes on to write, "I was revived, tho we didn't win that game."
We've previously seen Fortnite dragged into the whole pay-to-win drama, with the Flippin' Sexy emote altering your hitbox, the Erisa skin being accused of being pay-to-win, and Mystique's unique ability letting you masquerade as guards while going undetected.
More recently, Epic admitted that the free cars in Chapter 5 Season 3 had a bigger windscreen and were technically more likely to get you killed than the paid cosmetics. The developer confirmed this would be changed to Kotaku, but yet again, it was another pay-to-win headache the game could do without.
While the above video isn't the worst issue we've seen, it increasingly seems that Fortnite isn't the freebie the devs are so keen on marketing it as.
About The Author
Tom Chapman
Tom is Trending News Editor at GGRecon, with an NCTJ qualification in Broadcast Journalism and over seven years of experience writing about film, gaming, and television. With bylines at IGN, Digital Spy, Den of Geek, and more, Tom’s love of horror means he's well-versed in all things Resident Evil, with aspirations to be the next Chris Redfield.
