Epic Games defends Fortnite's controversial V-Bucks price hike, insisting it's in "direct correlation to the operating costs" and teasing "amazing things" are coming that'll make you "understand what's been going on"

V-Bucks are getting pricier, as Epic Games announced Fortnite's currency will go up in cost on March 19. This is, according to Epic, in order to "help pay the bills," a fair reason, if for the fact Fortnite is one of the best video games ever and Epic's a massive company. Nonetheless, the company's holding the line, per comments from lead developers.

"It's pure operating costs of running a business, and that was the main push," Andrea Balta, senior director of ecosystem growth at Epic, told The Verge during GDC 2026. "We're going to continue to, as a business, focus on creating amazing games and gameplay, but the price hike is a direct correlation to the operating costs."

Balta states the public statements thus far are "pretty accurate." Steve Allison, general manager of the Epic Games Store, suggests there's considerable expansion in the pipeline. "We're just investing in growing the ecosystem a lot," he states.

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Allison notes there are “amazing things that'll be rolling out in the next, like, six-to-12 months that, I think, when you look back, you'll understand what’s been going on." As of March 19, $8.99 will only get you 800 V-bucks instead of 1,000, as it is now, and packs at all subsequent price-points have been downsized accordingly. The reception has not been positive.

Fortnite joins RuneScape in raising prices, as the fantasy MMO just announced a rise in subscription costs across the board, including a phasing out of legacy pricing for longtime subscribers. Epic's been more lenient than Jagex overall, since RuneScape last saw subs become more expensive in 2024, whereas V-Bucks went up in 2023.

Still, two-to-three years makes for what feels like a short turnaround. Fortnite's delivered some big swings of late, the collab with The Simpsons being a prime example. More of that in future seasons may take the sting out of this out, but for now, it's a bitter pill for many.

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