Fortnite players bash “unnecessary” Item Shop update in Chapter 5 hotfix

A new Fortnite Chapter 5 hotfix has removed the Item Shop countdown, as players are left baffled over what the point of this change was.

Fortnite Chapter 5 has been out for a little over a month, introducing players to the next evolution of the Battle Royale. A new weapon mod system, three new game modes, and much more are just a few of this season’s highlights.

However, it hasn’t been all rainbows and sunshine, as player frustration has been steady, with snipers ruining lobbies worldwide. Another frustration in the community has been with the Item Shop, which despite being once home to items galore, various players have criticized it for not having anything unique since Chapter 5 launched.

With the arrival of a new hotfix, the Item Shop has appeared to continue its descent into madness, with a seemingly “pointless” change leading to many questions from the community.

Fortnite players question “unnecessary” Item shop update

The new hotfix deployed, reintroducing the Crash Pad Jr. However, as spotted by well-known Fortnite leaker, HYPEX, it seems the Item Shop timer has been removed as well.

In its place, Epic Games has instead inserted a text stating how the Item Shop refresh works: “The shop refreshes every day, usually at 7:00 PM ET (which is midnight GMT).”

This change certainly left many confused, as summed up by responses, such as “Pointless change,” or “Hard to tell when it refreshes when the same skins and items have been in there since December.”

Of course, this leads to a bigger issue as noted by this response: “So this means they can drop any cosmetic (especially the collab ones), at *anytime* really moving forward.”

The above issue reflects a well-known concern in the live service industry which is “FoMo,” aka fear of missing out. With this change, who knows if Epic Games will stick with the traditional 7 PM EST refresh time? If the developer doesn’t, it could force players into making split-decision purchases, especially since some skins don’t return for months.

Epic Games has gone on to respond to player feedback, although there’s no timetable on when a fix will come through.