Fortnite players were left scratching their heads this morning. Many woke up to find their Battle Passes had mysteriously disappeared.
Fortnite Chapter 6, Season 1 launched on December 1, 2024, and it was everything players hoped for. The new season introduced a Japan-inspired map, complete with points of interest like Warrior’s Watch, Seaport City, and Shogun’s Solitude.
Along with fresh parkour mechanics and new weapons like the effective pump shotgun, it was shaping up to be an exciting chapter. Players dove in, eager to unlock new skins like Nyanja, Jade, and Disney’s Hero Baymax. The Battle Pass, priced at 1,000 V-Bucks, seemed like a sweet deal.
But then, the unexpected happened: players who’d been enjoying the Battle Pass for all of December 2024, suddenly found it gone the first of January. They all have one thing in common: A Fortnite Crew monthly subscription.
No Battle Pass if you don’t renew your Fortnite Crew subscription
Epic Games had made a major shift in its monetization system in late 2024. Starting in December 2024, the Fortnite Crew subscription now included the Battle Pass as a standard perk.
They also nudged players with a quiet Battle Pass price increase, from 950 V-bucks to 1,000 V-bucks. To many, subscribing to Fortnite Crew seemed like the right move.
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The catch is if you didn’t continue paying for the Crew subscription this month, your Battle Pass was automatically removed.
While the Fortnite Crew plan was offering more perks than ever – including monthly V-Bucks and exclusive skins – there was a downside for those who didn’t renew. You lost your Battle Pass. Simple as that.
FortniteStatus responded to the confusion on X, explaining, “Hello! If you subscribed to Fortnite Crew beginning December 1st of 2024, premium rewards on the Battle Pass will only be unlockable while your Fortnite Crew subscription is active.”
So, if you didn’t keep paying, your Battle Pass is gone. Epic made it clear – keep your subscription active to keep the perks. The battle pass cosmetics you claimed before losing the subscription, however, are yours to keep.
This move reflects Fortnite’s ever-evolving approach to monetization. Epic Games has been tweaking its business model with every new season, and this is just the latest example.