Fortnite is saying goodbye to its various Battle Pass currencies and hello to good old fashioned XP, with rewards soon unlockable no matter what modes you play

Huge changes are coming to Fortnite's battle passes, and it sounds like earning in-game rewards is about to get even easier as a result.

Until last year, earning rewards like skins and emotes via Fortnite's Battle Pass was very straightforward – buy it, and every time you level up, you get five Battle Stars to spend on its rewards. Simple. However, things got a little more complicated with the introduction of the Lego Fortnite and Fortnite Festival game modes, which each offer their own separate passes with different rewards. Their rewards can only be unlocked after gathering enough Studs and Festival Points, respectively, which in themselves can only be earned by playing those specific modes. It makes sense, sure, but also means that those wanting to unlock all the Fortnite rewards they can have to pour hours into those separate modes to get them all.

However, this struggle will soon be a thing of the past. In a new blog post, developer Epic Games has revealed that by December 1, all of Fortnite's passes will progress simultaneously through XP earned from any mode. To do so, it's getting rid of Battle Stars, Studs, and Festival Points entirely – XP will essentially be its own, universal currency. Festival Points will be retired on November 2 with the release of the next Music Pass (a new name for the Festival Pass), and Studs and Battle Stars will follow on December 1. 

Thankfully, if you're like me and like to claim Battle Pass rewards non-sequentially (gotta make sure that you get the V-Bucks first, right?) then that'll still be possible, although you'll also be able to set things up to auto-claim rewards in order as they become available if you prefer. In addition, there'll be an option to buy specific pass rewards without paying for level-ups, which sounds like it could be a game-changer if a pass is about to expire but there's still something from it you really want.

Otherwise, changes are coming to the layout of the Lego and Music Passes. Rather than offering two separate progression tracks – one free and one premium – the two will be merged into one. Slightly confusingly, you'll still need to buy premium passes to access the premium rewards, but they'll just be part of the same group rather than separated into a different list away from the free ones – think of the way Overwatch 2 handles things. This alteration will come into effect with new passes released after December 1.

We'll have to wait and see how things play out when the changes come into effect, but based on what Epic has explained, it sounds really positive, and overall far more friendly to players who only really like to focus on one specific mode rather than all of them. Between this and announcing plans to do away with Battle Pass exclusivity in the future, there've been some great strides made in Fortnite lately when it comes to cosmetics and how they're distributed.

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