Fortnite players grab ultra-rare skin, refunds and variants following Item Shop mess-up

FORTNITE might be free-to-play but that hasn’t stopped people from spending big on in-game cosmetics.

Most of the money spent on Fortnite goes onto the in-game outfits commonly known as skins, as players spend millions on these items every year.

Many of these skins are only available for a limited time, meaning that there is a fear of missing out on the latest drops.

Those who manage to earn or purchase limited skins then gain clout within the community as others can see their outfit choices.

The perceived value of skins depends on the design and how many players own them, meaning that some players are very proud of their collections.

This has caused trouble in the community before as those who own certain rare outfits are upset if they then go back on sale, giving other players a chance to grab them.

This is what happened recently when Fortnite accidentally released the rare Paradigm skin on the Item Shop for 1.2k V-Bucks (roughly $10/£8).

Players rushed to snatch up the rare skin, leaving those who originally owned it disappointed.

To correct the error, Fortnite initially announced that it would be removing the skin from new purchasers’ inventories and refunding them the money.

The statement read: “Due to a bug, we unintentionally brought Paradigm back into the Shop and have since removed it.

“Within the week we’ll be removing Paradigm from recent purchaser’s Lockers and refunding the purchase as this was a limited time exclusive Outfit during Chapter 1 Season X.”

However, this made those who recently purchased the rare skin furious, and players clapped back at the announcement.

It appears that Epic Games listened to players and has since reversed the decision, and will instead give a number of bonuses to those affected.

The new statement reads: “Change of plan! Bought The Paradigm tonight? You can keep her!

“Her accidental return to the Shop is on us… so if you purchased The Paradigm during this evening’s rotation, you can keep this Outfit and we’ll refund your V-Bucks soon-ish.

“We plan to create a brand new variant of The Paradigm that we’ll grant exclusively to people who purchased the original Outfit. 

“Original purchasers will also have the option to refund this item if they’d like.”

This means that not only will players be able to keep the Paradigm skin but they will also receive their 1.2k V-Bucks back.

For those who purchased or earned the skin back in Chapter 1, they will receive a new variant with the same variety of the original.

Players were particularly pleased with the change, and are praising Epic Games for coming up with a solution to please everyone.

If you want to read more about the game, check out the Fortnite poll for potential collaborations.