It seems that a major cosmetics offensive is being planned for Fortnite. Dataminers have now found numerous new types of items that could end up in the cash shop. The most popular item is likely to be hats, but the Battle Bus could soon look different for everyone.
The cash shop of Fortnite is the primary source of revenue for the game. It makes sense that Fortnite is expanding it. Dataminers have recently found a number of new item categories that could make it to Fortnite’s shop.
This is what Fortnite’s shop looks like now
These item categories already exist in Fortnite’s shop:
- There are outfits for the hero
- Pickaxes
- Gliders
- And dances, which are emotes
Additionally, there are customization options available:
- Back bling
- Contrails
- and Loading screens
Back bling was only newly added to Fortnite in February. It could be that Epic soon introduces more new categories.
Dataminers find hints of new offerings: Various data miners (via FortniteBRLeaks) have found a plethora of new categories in Fortnite’s code. These include:
- The Battle Bus
- Decorations for Golf Carts
- Hats
- Map Markers
- Trails
- Emotes for consumable items (such as how to react when eating an apple)
- and Victory poses that you perform when you win
Some of the item categories differ from the previous ones. Players do not own the Battle Bus or Golf Carts, they would just see them differently from other players.
Many questions remain open: It is still unclear how exactly this will work. Whether the item categories will be added to the shop individually or be part of a new Battle Pass for Season 6.
It is also not known whether and when the new item categories will come to Fortnite. As always, caution is advised with datamining.
Hats in Fortnite would be a bestseller
Hats are the most popular: The biggest reactions to the news come from hats. It’s easy to imagine what cosmetic hats would look like in Fortnite. They fit best as the 5th item in a set. Already, many sets have 4 items (skin, pickaxe, glider, back bling).
At the moment, headgear is still part of the skin, but that could easily change.
Player shows skins without hats
From the community (via FortniteInsider), there has already been a suggestion to implement an option to toggle hats on and off. This is already the case in “Save the World”.
Here is a redditor’s idea of how skins would look without their hats.
With “cosmetic” hats, there would definitely still be a lot of potential in Fortnite to customize the character even more.
How does Fortnite make its money?
Skins and Battle Pass are the big business: Epic makes a fortune with Fortnite. The game is essentially free-to-play, but relies on microtransactions. Anyone who wants to customize their character buys “cosmetic” items in the game’s cash shop. They do not provide any gameplay advantages.
One of the major sources of revenue is the Battle Pass for just under 10€ every 10 weeks. Millions buy this pass – the start of a season is payday for Epic Games every time. When Season 4 started on May 1, it was like a gold rush.
Players can then gradually complete the Battle Pass and receive new cosmetic items.
In the meantime, the shop in Fortnite has a changing selection of skins. It increases attractiveness that skins are not always available. This creates pressure to buy the item immediately because one does not know when it will return.
This business model of Fortnite is considered “brilliant,” but it can still be expanded:
At the moment, it seems Epic is working hard to further increase revenue from Fortnite:
