Fortnite Season 8 Battle Pass: Free V-Bucks, New Skins, Price, And How It Works

Fortnite Season 8 is officially underway. As longtime fans of the wildly popular battle royale title will know, the new season breathes new life into the game by overhauling numerous aspects of the game. For Season 8 developer Epic has changed the island on which all the action takes place, introduced new gameplay features, and made quality of life improvements. However, for the dedicated Fortnite players the most exciting thing that Season 8 brings is a new Battle Pass.

For those that are jumping into Fortnite for the first time (hey, hello, welcome to the Fortnite party!), here’s a quick overview of what the Battle Pass is, what it offers, and how you can best make use of it to enjoy the coming weeks and months of playing Fortnite.

How Does The Battle Pass Work?

The Battle Pass is effectively the means by which players unlock new cosmetic items such as skins, emotes, wraps, gliders, and back bling—basically anything cool you see on other players running around the island. This is done by playing Fortnite; taking out enemy players and scoring Victory Royales, and completing the weekly challenges. The Battle Stars you accrue while doing all this levels up the Battle Pass and, in turn, the cosmetics become available.

As with previous Battle Passes, there are over 100 levels to upgrade through. When you acquire a Battle Pass, you’ll automatically get the Blackheart and Hybrid progressive skins. These outfits can be levelled up to evolve into different styles, which is a neat touch introduced in Season 7.

Everyone Gets Select Challenges For Free

You’re not required to have a Battle Pass as, by default, everyone is able to unlock some cosmetics. However, with what is effectively the free version of the Battle Pass, it takes much longer to level up the Battle Pass and unlock these cosmetics. This is because a portion of the weekly challenges are exclusive to those that have spent V-Bucks on a Battle Pass. More challenges to do means more Battle Stars earned, which levels up the pass quicker and gets players those precious cosmetics. There are also some rewards that are exclusive to paid Battle Pass holders.

How Much Does A Battle Pass Cost?

The Battle Pass costs 950 V-Bucks from the in-game store. V-Bucks is a Fortnite specific currency that you can purchase with real money. Those that completed the 13 free Overtime Challenges during the Share the Love event towards the end of Season 7 are entitled to a Season 8 Battle Pass at no cost. If that’s you, head to the Battle Pass tab to get it or upgrade to a Battle Bundle at a discount.

You Can Get Free V-Bucks

Although a Battle Pass costs 950 V-Bucks, you could argue that it pays for itself if you play Fortnite regularly. If you have a Battle Pass you'll also be rewarded with V-Bucks as you level it up--every six to 10 tiers, you'll be given 100 free V-Bucks. If you're dedicated throughout the season and manage to reach rank 58, you'll have earned 1,000 V-Bucks, which is more than you'll have spent on the Battle Pass in the first place.

There's an additional V-Bucks to be earned beyond that, but you'll have to spend quite a bit of time to get it all. Fortnite developer Epic has previously estimated that earning every reward in the Battle Pass takes between 75 and 150 hours. Generally, however, if you play regularly and complete a lot of challenges, it shouldn't be too difficult to get value out of the pass.

Completing Challenges With Friends

One thing to note for Season 8 is the introduction of Party Assist, which should make completing the weekly challenges significantly easier. This new feature allows a player to group up with friends and, prior to starting of a match, activate Party Assist so all the players can work towards challenge progress together.

What Are The Rewards?

When you purchase a Battle Pass, you'll immediately a few skins including the Blackheart and Hybird ones, both of which can be levelled up. As they are levelled up, their visual style evolves to look coller. You'll also get an immediate XP bonus. You can see all the Season 8 skins here.

What's New In Season 8?

For Season 8 Epic has once again rolled out a cool new world event. This time around a huge volcano has appeared, introducing lava onto the island. At the same time a powerful figure has escaped the Ice King and pirates have shown up too. There’s treasure to be found too, and all of these factions are after it. The island looks different and new locations have appeared, so whether you’re a seasoned Fortnite player or a newcomer, it should be exciting.

Epic had detailed everything new in its Fortnite update 8.0 patch notes. Along with more information on the world event, you can find out about the new cannon weapon, learn about the latest limited time modes, and more in the notes.