With Fortnite Chapter 2 reinvigorating the battle royale game's community, there's a fresh demand for V-Bucks. Fortnite's in-game currency is used to purchase all manner of microtransactions, including skins, emotes, and even the game's every-popular Battle Pass. Yet surprisingly acquiring V-Bucks isn't always a straight forward experience, specifically for teenagers or even younger players. It may have taken awhile, by Epic Games is looking to help. V-Bucks are getting purchasable gift cards soon.
On Friday Epic Games announced that V-Bucks cards would soon be buyable at retailers across the United States, with support in other countries coming soon. These cards can be redeemed via the official Fortnite website and then used in-game, as if they were otherwise earned or purchased directly with a credit card. However, V-Buck cards offer a lot more flexibility than a direct digital purchase does. They can be used as birthday or Christmas gifts, or just to give a gift to a friend, and they're great for people without credit cards, too.
As with digital V-Buck purchases, V-Buck cards will offer bonus V-Bucks for larger denominations. For example, the $10 V-Buck card won't include any bonus currency, but it's the most accessible and directly usable purchase since it provides 1,000 V-Bucks. That's just enough for a common outfit. Larger denominations offer increased bonuses. $25 provides 2,800 V-Bucks, $40 rewards 5,000 V-Bucks, and a whopping $100 card offers 13,500 V-Bucks total.
Fortnite players, or any game fan for that matter, may be surprised to hear that V-Buck gift cards didn't already exist. Fortnite is a hugely successful game and has been for some time, after all. Unfortunately, it's true. The only way to buy V-Bucks previously was to purchase them with a credit card directly from an account, or to get them via a rare Fortnite retail bundle like the Fortnite Deep Freeze Bundle sold during holiday 2019. Now Fortnite will join the likes of League of Legends and Roblox with cards on the shelf at your local GameStop.
In addition to the V-Bucks cards, Epic Games also had a second announcement regarding upcoming holiday Fortnite loot. Epic confirmed that a new swathe of Fortnite merchandise will be coming to retailers for the holidays. Exactly what will be offered isn't clear, but it probably includes clothes and toys. Epic does tell fans to look for a free in-game Merry Mint Pickaxe that will be made available for free with certain Fortnite merch purchases, though. No V-Bucks required.
Fortnite is available now on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, Xbox One, and mobile devices.