A number of players were baffled by the granting of a cosmetic Back Bling when they booted up Fortnite this week, and now Epic’s explained why it’s giving out this cosmetic to almost everyone.
Unlike other freebies, such as the Fortnitemares free rewards, Epic had previously given no warning it was going to be giving away this cosmetic item. In fact, many players only first found out when it appeared in their inventory. The Redmask Ranker Back Bling was originally intended as a reward for those who played in Fortnite’s Ranked Mode in the currently ongoing seasons. The item is meant to show off progression in said Ranked mode, the item has a different appearance depending on how many Ranked Quests a player successfully completed – including a Bronze, Silver and Gold appearance.
However, it seems Epic found an issue with the game stats this time around, and as a result has decreed that everyone can have the basic level of the item regardless of their position. In fact, as per the Fortnite Status Twitter account, it seems all you have to do to claim one is log in before the Chapter 4 Season 4 end date – you don’t even have to have played ranked mode. “After reviewing Ranked quest data,” reads the tweet, “We’ll be granting the Redmask Ranker Back Bling to all players who log in during Chapter 4 Season 4. In future seasons, items like this will be available earlier in the Ranked quest rewards so players can show off their progression.”
Some players are a little angry at this – given they will have already grinded out a few of the Ranked Missions to obtain the item in the first place. Presumably though, after it looked at the data, the item was placed a little too high on the reward chain than intended, meaning many players who’d done some of the quests and then hit a wall of difficulty in completing these missions may have looked set to fail to earn even the basic level of bling, and had nothing to show for their efforts.
Still, presumably the visual element of the Back Bling means it’ll still be a suitable literal badge of honour for anyone wanting to show off their seasonal prowess – so be sure to login to claim your freebie. In the meantime, Fortnite fans think Chapter 1 may be on the way thanks to some clues from Epic. Alternatively, check out our guide to when does Fortnitemares 2023 end?
