Police cars are missing from 'Fortnite'

Epic Games seems to be responding to current events. Gamers are reporting that Epic has taken on police cars from Fortnite. The removal is believed to be a response to the Black Lives Matter protests against police violence. A Wall Street Journal source says the developer isn't making a "political statement." Instead, it's trying to be "sensitive about the issues" players are dealing with. Epic hasn't commented yet about the matter.

While some major game industry players have endorsed the Black Lives Matter cause, Epic seems to take a softer stance. As Engadget points out, it acknowledges the outrage, but it isn't explicitly advocating a cause. Epic has been previously quoted as saying it will not ban players for political speech. This milder approach isn't surprising as these companies are hesitant to take up a cause without alienating buyers with opposing views.

Source: Engadget

Epic Games begrudgingly brings 'Fortnite' to Google Play Store

Image courtesy of Epic Games

Epic Games finally caved and brought Fortnite to the Google Play Store, but they aren't exactly pleased with it. When the game launched on mobile in 2018, the developer notably sidestepped the Play Store and asked users to download the title right from its website to avoid Google's substantial 30% revenue cut from in-app purchases of Play Store downloads. And with Fortnite being a popular free-to-play game when it launched, it would have lost significant income from the game. 

After 18 months of the company's harsh rhetoric when it comes to Google's gatekeeping, Fortnite is on the Play Store, while also still available through fortnite.com. 

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There's a limited-edition purple Xbox One S 'Fortnite Battle Royale' console

It's been leaked before but now it's official. A special purple variant of the Microsoft Xbox One S is coming out soon (June 7th in the US). It's being bundled with Fortnite and includes the console in the special colour with 1TB of storage, a copy of Fortnite Battle Royale, a purple Xbox Wireless Controller, 2,000 V-Bucks, and special in-game items. The bundle will also come with a month-long trial of Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold. In Canada, the bundle will retail for $379.99 CAD. It isn't specified on Microsoft's official page when it'll be released, but we hope to hear more soon.

Hasbro launches new 'Fortnite' Nerf guns

Here's something for you Fortnite fans. Hasbro, the owner of the Nerf brand, just unveiled its full lineup of Fortnite-themed Nerf toys. These include the previously announced AR-L Elite blaster, SP-L Elite, TS-R Super Soaker, HC-E Super Soaker, and RL Super Soaker. These toys have been modeled after weapons you can use in the game. Pricing ranges from US$9.99 for products like Llama Nerf MicroShots Dart-Firing Blaster to $49.99 for the AR-L Elite. Pre-orders start now with shipping starting on March 22.

Source: The Verge