Fortnite has become an overnight success in the video game community thanks to its multiplayer gameplay and its free-to-play status.
So, it’s no surprise that its popularity has led fans to go nuts about promotional items at the E3 conference.
According to Polygon, Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, gave out exclusive bags during an event at E3 that included codes for the game’s virtual currency, an in-game item and a real-life enamel pin. The bag itself, a tote, featured a large graphic of the “boogie bomb,” one of the game’s weapons:
https://twitter.com/II_Greeny_II/status/1008211966484074496
Even though the currency isn’t real, and the game is free, the items are already selling for big (real) money online.
The in-game item, a “spray,” (which maybe some of you Fortnite players could explain to us) and the V-bucks are what people are most interested, it seems. Polygon reported that they’re listed for about $300 on eBay, and are currently going for as high as $102 in auctions.
Merch by Amazon also carries a variety of Fortnite merch, acting as the game’s official online store. The shop offers T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts and, now, pop sockets, as Amazon continues to expand its Merch by Amazon service into other product categories.
Branded merchandise is clearly a major—and growing—part of Epic Games’ revenue strategy for Fortnite. While the game is free to play, its player-base reportedly spends $300 million a month on extras. Most of that is in-game purchases like character skins and emotes, but the Merch by Amazon store and the mega-popular E3 swag bag are proof that fans are hungry for real-life Fortnite merch, too.
