Fortnite‘s Free Cars Will Get You Killed Faster Than Its Paid Ones, New Video Shows [Update]

A new viral video shows that many of Fortnite’s premium cars—which can only be unlocked by purchasing them with V-Bucks—are safer to drive around in compared to the free models in the game. This is proving to be a problem in Fortnite’s newest car-focused season, and it seemingly goes against Epic’s policy of cosmetics not offering any in-game advantages.

On May 24, Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 3 launched and added a new Mad Max-like wasteland to the game’s map as well as new skins, weapons, and a bunch of car combat-focused changes. These specific automobile changes have proved controversial online, as some players and pros argue that cars are too powerful and have turned the online third-person shooter into something completely different than before. In response, Epic has already nerfed and tweaked some parts of Season 3 to seemingly address car complaints. However, players have discovered that the very car they are driving might be getting them killed more often.

On June 1, TikTok content creator and streamer Nickeh30 uploaded a video demonstrating that many of the so-called “free” car skins in Fortnite are less safe to use than others which can be purchased. These free cars are included in the game at no cost to players, or can be unlocked for free without spending any money. The relevant detail is that these free cars tend to feature large windshields, making it much easier to shoot the driver inside the car.

Meanwhile, most premium cars—some of them based on real-life vehicles—have smaller windshields. As a result, it’s much, much harder to shoot players in these cars.

This has set off a firestorm online as players feel like this directly contradicts Epic’s claim that cosmetics offered in Fortnite’s item shop don’t provide any kind of advantage during gameplay. I’ll also add that in my experience playing the new season, I have a harder time hitting drivers using “paid cars.”

Updated: 06/4/2024, 5:35 p.m. ET: Epic sent this short comment over to Kotaku about the situation:

We’re aware of the issue and have a fix planned for an upcoming build.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time car skins have been accused of offering players an advantage. When cosmetic car skins were added to Fortnite in 2023, players documented that some skins had different hitboxes, which could offer a slight advantage in certain situations.

However, this latest discovery involving windshields seems much worse, and in a season so heavily focused on car combat, it seems like a bad design choice that will punish players unable or unwilling to spend money on pricey in-game cars.

Update 2: 06/5/2024, 11:55 a.m. ET: Epic revealed its plans to fix the issue where some cars—including some paid and free vehicles—are less safe to use due to larger windshields.

We’re aware of an issue where some Vehicle bodies, like the Whiplash, have larger exposed sightlines to the driver while in the passenger position.

We are adjusting the driver position backwards in some Vehicles to prevent any potential gameplay advantage over our next game… pic.twitter.com/GTVeg2nKzP

— Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) June 5, 2024

The company said that in future Fortnite updates, players will be moved back in some cars to make them smaller targets. We will see if this is enough to balance things out.

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