Epic Shows "Pay the Bills" as Fortnite V-Buck Value Increases

Epic Games had a record-breaking year for revenue. The company has seen that number grow every year since 2019, with $6.01 billion in 2025 eclipsing $5.8 billion in 2024, the data shows.

You'll have to excuse me when, even as someone who has never played Fortnite, I'm upset that ickle Epic needs your hard-earned money to “pay the bills”, so it's driving up the cost of V-Bucks.

Fortnite V-Bucks are increasing in value

fortnite thief rubbing his hands in front of some v-bucks.

“The cost of running Fortnite has skyrocketed and we're raising prices to help pay the bills,” Epic Games said in a new Fortnite blog post.

From March 19, the following changes will take place:

$8.99 Pack – 800 V-Bucks (was 1,000)
$22.99 Pack – 2,400 V-Bucks (was 2,800)
$36.99 Pack – 4,500 V-Bucks (was 5,000)
$89.99 Pack – 12,500 V-Bucks (was 13,500)
Exact Amount Pack – $0.99 for 50 V-Bucks (was $0.50 for 50 V-Bucks)

To counter the price hike, Epic is lowering the cost of select passes, including:

Battle Pass – 800 V-Boxes (was 1,000)
Battle Bundle – 2,600 V-Bucks (was 2,800)
OG Pass – 800 V-Bucks (was 1,000)
Music Pass – 1,200 V-Bucks (was 1,400)
Lego Pass – 1,200 V-Bucks (was 1,400)

The tone-deaf nature of the announcement

The Simpsons version of Fortnite Pilly Soch.

Price gouging is certainly nothing new. We've seen steady growth in both Xbox and PlayStation consoles over the past few years. Last year, Nintendo was forced to raise the prices of some of its Switch 2 accessories due to President Trump's tariffs. And over time the cost of purchasing games has steadily increased. These price increases are often attributed to “market conditions.”

related to

Xbox Game Pass is getting a rebranding once again, this time with the $30 Ultimate Edition

Xbox Game Pass just got more expensive in a major overhaul to the service.

Hearing a company that made more than $6 billion last year say its price hikes are “to help pay the bills,” when millions of people around the world are legitimately struggling to pay their bills, makes Epic's statement really icky.

In all fairness, there was a V-Buck price increase maybe The reason was last happened in 2023, and saw 1,000 V-Bucks go from $7.99 to $8.99, so it's been two and a half years, but blame the market, blame the tariff, don't make some sweet comment about helping to “pay the bills”.