Fortnite Planning to Disable Age-Gated Cosmetic, Reveals v28.00 Update Release Date

Fortnite is disabling its controversial age restrictions over cosmetics, which fans have criticized as one of the game’s “worst updates.” In a message on its website, Fortnite’s developers announced that the cosmetics will be disabled in lieu of a long-term coslution. The full message follows below.

We hear your feedback & are back with more info ❤️‍🩹

Until we have our long-term solution, cosmetic gating will be off for the majority of cosmetics, starting with the v28.00 update.

And you can use any cosmetic at our next big in-game event.

More: https://t.co/8lr8192puH

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) November 20, 2023

Cosmetic gating will be disabled for the majority of Fortnite cosmetics until we have a long-term solution in place. This change will start rolling out with the v28.00 update on December 3, 2023.

We were conservative in how we reviewed cosmetics and their potential impact on an island’s rating. We are evaluating all cosmetics again now.

A small number of existing cosmetics and less than ten Outfits will remain playable only in T-rated (or regionally equivalent rated) islands because of their obvious fear or violence elements.

We’ve been deep in the comments over the past few days and we’ll keep working on getting this right.

The announcement was greeted positively within the Fortnite community following the backlash over the age restrictions, which saw every cosmetic item receive an age rating that was only compatible with certain islands. Epic Games claimed that the move was “to help parents and players make informed play decisions about the thousands of games and other experiences in Fortnite.”

Epic Games will continue to investigate the possibility of cosmetics restrictions in the future. It’s unclear which skins will continue to be impacted, though some fans pointed toward the Xenomorph skin as one major possibility. Another candidate is the severed head of the Immortal, which was revealed in a recent leak.

Fortnite has been enjoying a mini-renaissance thanks to the release of Fortnite OG, which resulted in the biggest day ever for Epic’s battle royale. For more, check out our complete guide to Fortnite OG and more.

Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.