Fortnite: Battle Royale Getting Retail Release for PS4, Xbox One, and Switch

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Epic Games announced in a press release today that Fortnite: Battle Royale will get a retail release later this year. I’m sure you’re a bit confused, given that Fortnite: Battle Royale is, in fact, a free to play game. So how will this work?

Well, it’s pretty simple. Fortnite: Deep Freeze Bundle will cost $30, and include  the Frostbite Outfit, Cold Front Glider, Chill-Axe Pickaxe, Freezing Point Back Bling, and 1,000 V-Bucks (which are, coincidentally enough, exactly enough to buy yourself a Battle Pass). So basically, you’re paying 30 bucks for a lot of in-game stuff, plus what I imagine is a physical copy of the game. Simultaneously, this same bundle will also be available digitally on Xbox Live, PSN, and the Nintendo eShop for the same price, should you want it that way.

I suppose this is a way for Epic Games to get the game on store shelves going into the Holiday shopping season, so I see where they are coming from on this, but given that console bundles for this game already exist, and that it is free to play, I have to admit this is one of the weirder retail releases of popular digital games that I have seen yet.