Epic seems to have found the limit for cosmetic pricing. The company announced today that it is lowering the price of Fortnite’s recently added in-game cars from around $US35 (close to $AU50) to around $US23 (around $AU35).
On December 8, Epic Games and Rocket League developer Psyonix released Rocket Racing—a new competitive racing experience—inside the popular battle royale game, complete with its own quests and cosmetics. I’ve enjoyed Rocket Racing since it launched earlier this month. But when I went to buy a new in-game car, I was stunned by the high price tag of 4,000 v-bucks. To put that in context, it costs $US37 to buy 5,000 v-bucks, the closest amount you can purchase from Epic. So these cars are practically $US40 a pop! That angered a lot of players, and Epic seems to have realized it can’t charge that much.
On December 14, Epic announced that it had “fine-tuned” the prices on its in-game cars, lowering how much they cost by a significant amount.
Rare cars which previously cost 4,000 v-bucks now cost 2,500. Meanwhile, uncommon cars, which previously cost 2,500, will now be sold for 1,500. These prices are still too high in my book. The cars come with extra in-game decals and can be used in Rocket League, Rocket Racing, and Battle Royale.
Epic also promised that players who bought the cars before the price drop will get refunded the price difference within a week.
What makes it tricky to figure out how much any of this stuff costs is how Epic (and all other publishers and companies) sell digital currency in specific amounts designed to push you toward buying more than you need, but pricing content so you never quite have enough left over for something else. That leads you to buy more currency, and the cycle continues.
So while it’s not accurate to say these cars cost $US40, it’s close enough. And really, the fact that we are even in this pricing ballpark is ridiculous. Thankfully, even if the prices are still too rich for my blood, it seems enough people didn’t purchase these pricey vehicles that Epic felt forced to lower the prices.
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