Last-Minute Gift Guide For The 'Fortnite' Player: How To Give V-Bucks And More

Fortnite

Credit: Epic Games

Congratulations! It's December 21. That means you've only got a few more days to do Christmas shopping, and you may be freaking out. I'm not here to help you with majority of that, but if you've got a Fortnite player in your life it shouldn't be too hard to come up with something quick and easy to put into a stocking or under the tree. If you don't know Battle Royale from Save the World, however, you might not really have any idea for how to give a gift associated with this particular craze. So whether you want to give V-bucks or something else, read on for some tips on last minute Fortntie shopping.

We'll start with the basics. Fortnite is a free-to-play game, which means that you can't walk into a store and buy Fortnite. It's a free download available on iOS, Android, PS4, Xbox One, Pc and Nintendo Switch. Like most every other free-to-play game, players buy cosmetic items to spruce up their characters, and they do this with a "premium currency." Think of a premium currency like a casino token: it's similar to a US$, but can only be used in a single establishment. In the case of Fortnite, the premium currency is called "V-bucks".

So: you can't go wrong giving V-bucks. Giving V-bucks, however, is a little complicated.

There's no way to buy V-bucks directly, and there's no way to buy a physical object you could put into a stocking or something. If you want to "give V-bucks", you have to give a gift card for the platform that your giftee is playing on. So if they play on Xbox One, give them a gift card for Xbox One. If they play on Switch, give them an eShop gift card, etc.

There are two exceptions here: PC and Android. Both of these platforms use the Epic launcher and players on these platforms make purchases directly from Epic. In that case, you're more or less out of luck when it comes to a "here's a gift card for V-bucks" sort of item. Your best bet is to just use a regular old Visa gift card. If you're giftee plays on Android, do not give them a Google Play gift card, because Fortnite does not run through Google Play.

So that's V-bucks. V-bucks are the most versatile thing you can give your Fortnite-er. If you want something to wrap up, your best bet is the Deep Freeze Bundle, which comes with a couple of cosmetics along with some V-Bucks and allows you to give a physical object. You should still be able to find this on store shelves: essentially the entire point of this thing is so that Epic could put a physical object on shelves for stumped gifters to ring up at the register. Feel free to indulge.

And that's essentially what we're working with as far as digital objects usable in Fortnite. After that, there's a wide array of merchandise that's become available in the past few months. Epic Games has an official merchandise store, though the selection is somewhat limited. These action figures are pretty cool, and you'll get bonus points if you can figure out your giftee's favorite skin and get them the physical version. Funko Pops, too, are pretty reliable and oddly mesmerizing. 

There are also near-unlimited T-shirts and sundry all over the internet. Just search "Fortnite" on Amazon and go nuts.

If you are looking for something a little more versatile, consider a gaming headset. Audio is hugely important in Fortnite, both when it comes to talking to teammates and listening for opponents' footsteps. Arctis' SteelSeries is highly recommended and comes in at a few different price points. 

Physical objects, however, can cause issues for the timing-challenges. V-bucks, or a proxy for V-bucks, will be an appreciated and solid gift, so that's what I'd reccomend.

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