Spider-Man and Geralt might be lost to Fortnite's exclusivity void, but future Battle Pass collabs will now have the chance to return to the shop after 18 months in exclusivity prison

Huge changes are coming to Fortnite's controversial Battle Pass exclusivity, as Epic Games has announced that all future Battle Pass items now have the chance of appearing in the regular Item Shop 18 months after they become inaccessible.

Up until now, everything you unlocked in a Fortnite Battle Pass has been exclusive to that Battle Pass. Each season's pass brings with it new skins, emotes, and more that can only be unlocked by diligently leveling up during that season. It's a great incentive to play plenty of matches for EXP, but it comes with a big drawback – if you miss out at the time, you can never claim those things in the future. This has meant that newer players have missed out on some incredibly popular licensed character skins including Spider-Man, Darth Vader, and Geralt of Rivia, because they were only available for a limited time. 

However, this might not be a problem going forward. In a new blog post published today, Epic Games confirms that future Battle Pass items may now become available to purchase in the Item Shop 18 months or more after their respective Battle Passes expire. This includes items you can earn from Battle Pass Quests a while after the pass begins (think of the recent Avatar collab Korra skin, or even this season's Magneto skin), as well as Bonus Rewards (like the Super Level Styles), and Quest Rewards. 

Explaining the decision, Epic says: "This change lets us continue investing in new and exciting Battle Pass rewards while enabling players down the road to also enjoy the content, including Outfits based on popular licensed characters."

The developer explains that there's no guarantee that all future Battle Pass items will return to the shop, but "if an item in a future Battle Pass will never be available outside the Pass, we'll let you know!" Again, it's worth reiterating that this change is for future items, so unfortunately anyone who missed out on Spidey is still out of luck. 

This announcement coincidentally comes just hours after Epic accidentally released what was supposed to be a limited-time exclusive skin in the item shop, which was last seen almost five years ago. The devs quickly removed the skin from the shop, and after a U-turn, decided that those who managed to buy it in time could keep it. 

For more games like Fortnite, check out our list of the best battle royale games.