UPDATE 23/3/21 16:00 UK: Fortnite will refund all purchases of the Wild music track, an Epic spokesman told Eurogamer. The company should not be included in the games store, the company confirmed, and its appearance does not mean a change in any rules regarding the exclusivity of combat passes.
The item store version of the Wild Lobby Track will be removed from Lockers. (The Battle Pass Reward version remains for players who unlock it.)
Players who have purchased or donated the Item Shop version will return the V-Bucks they spent. pic.twitter.com/5jH2sX6S9T
– Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) March 23, 2021
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ORIGINAL STORY 12:00 UK: Epic Games has updated Fortnite’s in-game store to remove an item released last night from the game’s current combat pass.
The Wild music track, which features the soundtrack of Fortnite’s recent Zero Crisis Final event, was available for several hours. It’s currently part of the game’s Chapter 2 season 6 battle pass, as a reward at level 70.
In more than three years, Fortnite has never sold a battle pass reward separately via the game’s article store – and it breaks an important promise from Epic that battle pass items will never be on sale separately later.
Fans quickly began making a change to Epic’s rules, and a company spokesman quickly confirmed that the music would be pulled.
“Do not be there,” gstaffEpic wrote on / FortNiteBR reddit. “We’ll get it out of the store.”
An hour later, Epic uses its Fortnite Status Twitter account to issue an official statement:
“The Wild Lobby Track was made available in the Item Shop today, although it was also a Battle Pass Reward,” Epic wrote. “We realize this was a bug and will remove it from the Article Store.”
The Wild Lobby Track was made available in the Item Shop today, although it was also a Battle Pass Reward. We realize that this was a bug and that we will remove it from the Item Store. pic.twitter.com/aZi94OKdTA
– Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) March 23, 2021
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So what happened? Epic did not explain the matter further, but it is clear that it was not just a last minute snafu. The release of the Wild music track has been tweeted via posts now removed on the game’s social channels with animated examples of the track. It’s also been uploaded separately to the game’s YouTube to listen to – and it’s still live below.
One statement suggested by some fans is that Wild was originally intended as a store item that would only have to be exchanged in the battle pass at the last minute – and only after the article’s store content and social posts were planned ahead of time. If this is true, it would mean that Epic decides in advance what it will sell in Fortnite’s popular retail stores and then programs everything at that point.
Back in 2019, Epic had to turn down the release of Gunner, a recognized pet dog that was almost identical to one who was previously part of a fight pass.
“We should not have released the Gunner Pet and apologized for that,” Epic said at the time. Gunner was repaid and then completely cut from Fortnite’s files, never to return.
Epic will still repay Wild’s purchases, but is expected to do so soon. We contacted the company for more information.