Epic says no to the Fortnite Annual Pass, teases unreleased skin instead

UPDATE: Epic has denied rumours about the potential Fortnite Annual Pass, with the company instead teasing the release of the infamous Bao Bros skin.

It turns out that the plans for Fortnite’s Annual Pass were just that – plans. The potential pass was just a prototype, meaning that while the concept of the pass made it into the upcoming v11.30 patch for Fortnite, there weren’t any actual physical plans for it.

Epic released a statement to Eurogamer in which a spokesperson for the company said the following:

“We’ve seen discussions around a 2020 Annual Pass as a result of data mining the v11.30 build. Occasionally prototype features make it into our build that end up not being released. While the 2020 Annual Pass was considered, we have no plans to release it… unlike the Bao Bros.”

So, while the Annual Pass is currently not on the table, the Epic-level Bao Bros skin is still a hot topic amongst Fortnite fans for the skin’s rarity.

While the Bao Bros skin was added to Fortnite’s Item Shop in 2019, it was never officially released. You can check it out below.

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Original story continues below:

Epic Games appears to be adding some important new features to their Battle Royale darling in Fortnite v11.30. Most importantly, an annual battle pass and split-screen local co-op.

Revealed through a datamine of this morning’s Fortnite v11.30 update (thanks, Fortnite news), Epic Games has plans for numerous features that may go live during tonight’s The Game Awards 2019.

Firstly, there’s the news of an annual battle pass which will give players access to every season’s battle pass for an entire year.

“Purchase the 2020 Annual Pass and receive all upcoming 2020 Fortnite Battle Royale: Battle Bundles and 7 Annual Pass exclusive cosmetics,”the feature’s datamined description reads. “Battle Bundles unlock 25% of content in each Battle Pass instantly upon release.”

The update is also planned to introduce split-screen multiplayer to consoles, exclusively PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. (Unfortunately, we doubt Nintendo Switch would be able to handle split-screen Fortnite.)

There’s also some smaller features: players can now preview the Fortnite Item Shop on their mobile device and Epic has made preparations for the exclusive showing of a Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker live event at Risky Reels.

The full patch notes are below:

Introducing Split Screen.

• Play Duos and Squads with a friend on the same PlayStation 4 or Xbox One.
  This is an early release of Split Screen; we will continue to improve the feature. Please report bugs via the in-game Feedback tool.
• Preview what’s in the Item Shop using your mobile device.
• With Party Hub, you can now preview what’s new in the Item Shop before loading into the game.
• To do this, open Party Hub, swipe right, and tap “Preview Items.”
• Increased the daily Item Shop gifting limit from 3 to 5.
• Changed Ammo Indicator.
  Now a visual representation of remaining ammo number rather than a solid bar.
• You can now choose when to transition from the “Eliminated By” screen to the end-of-match XP screen.
  To transition to the end-of-match XP screen, press “Continue” on the “Eliminated By” screen.
• Made preparations for the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker live event at Risky Reels on December 14, 2 PM ET.

Bug fixes:

• Resolved an issue involving the Safe Zone setting on Xbox One returning to 1.00 upon each login.
• Resolved an issue involving some trees and metal fences in Arena not granting the correct material increase.
• The Magma Wrap now appears correctly on the Bandage Bazooka and Pistol.
• Resolved an issue involving the Bandolette Outfit appearing to have two hairstyles merged together.
• Resolved an issue involving some items from the Twin Turntables set appearing grainy and pixelated.
• The Social menu Friends List on mobile devices no longer auto-scrolls to the top when players try to scroll down.
• Resolved an issue involving players’ Quick Bar being inadvertently defaulted off on mobile devices.