removed the team's offensive logo after the team itself agreed to change both its name and mascot following years of complaints from fans.
As Fortnite has grown in popularity, the developers at Epic Games have been able to make deals with a variety of other companies in order to incorporate well-known properties into the game. These inclusions can be as grand as a special gameplay event or as simple as character aesthetics. Properties like found their way Fortnite, but so has the world of professional sports, and the inclusion is far greater than just the NFL.
A tweet from iFireMonkey shows that Epic Games is allowing Fortnite players a refund if they have purchased the Spike NFL outfit. This was later corrected and expanded to include all NFL skins in the game. The reported reasoning behind this offer is due to Washington, D.C.'s NFL team dropping its racist former moniker. Epic Games also removed the old team logo from the game. The refund period will last until November 12 and players can claim it without using a refund token.
For many years, the Washington NFL team had gotten pressure from the public to change its name. The racial justice movements throughout the United States this year coupled with some internal scandals in the Washington organization finally made that change come to fruition. While the new name, the Washington Football Team, has been criticized for its lack of creativity, it is also generally agreed upon that the organization took a step in the right direction. Other forms of media besides Fortnite that had the old name and logo as a part of their makeup have made similar changes.
While this change was to be expected, it is strange that it took Epic Games so long to implement it. The name change happened earlier this summer and the NFL is already in mid-season. The strangest part, however, is that all NFL skins are a part of this refund opportunity, not just the Washington one. It is unknown if there were any restrictions in the deal between Epic Games and the NFL which might have prohibited this from happening sooner. It is also worth noting that this was not announced, but rather it was discovered by players. Overall, the timing seems a little late, the scope too broad, and the awareness minimal. It will be interesting to see how many Fortnite players will come to know about the refund and take advantage of it.
Fortnite is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Android.
Source: iFireMonkey/Twitter
