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Epic says its Fortnite V-bucks price hike is a ‘direct correlation’ to operating costs

The Verge / 3/13/2026

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Key Points

  • Epic Games announced a price hike for Fortnite V-bucks, attributing it to rising operating costs and saying the higher prices are needed to "pay the bills."
  • The price increase will take effect on March 19, the same day the next Fortnite season launches.
  • The move drew complaints from players, with an Epic staffer acknowledging Reddit protests in a post.
  • The Verge reported that when asked for specifics at the GDC Festival of Gaming, Epic executives offered little detail about the pricing rationale.

Epic Games announced this week that Fortnite's in-game V-bucks currency would be getting more expensive with a somewhat glib statement: "The cost of running Fortnite has gone up a lot and we're raising prices to help pay the bills," the company wrote. The price hike will go into effect on March 19th, the same day the next major Fortnite season debuts, and enough users have complained about the increase that an Epic staffer acknowledged the protests on a post on Reddit.

But when The Verge asked Epic executives at the GDC Festival of Gaming this week if they could be specific about why the company raised the price, they didn't say much more.

Read the full story at The Verge.