Epic teases new Fortnite Crew skin + paid custom matchmaking?

It looks like Epic has big plans for the future of the Fortnite Crew.

Introduced at the beginning of Season 5, the Fortnite Crew is a monthly subscription service offering players a selection of in-game rewards. Each month, members receive an exclusive outfit and 1,000 V-Bucks, the package also grants access to the current Battle Pass.

The skins from December and January, Galaxia and Green Arrow, went down a treat, but what’s coming next?

In a recent update, Epic Games revealed “We’re not quite ready to announce who’s in February’s Crew Pack just yet, but we can say it’s a new face from the world of Fortnite that players should look forward to!", followed by fox and shush Emoticons.

Although the wording in the statement above left some people a little confused, fans have already started throwing in their guesses. Unsurprisingly, the fox emoji is the basis of most arguments, with popular suggestions including video game characters Starfox and Foxy, or alternate versions of existing outfits like Drift and Fennix.

The developers also confirmed that all past, present and new Fortnite Crew members who log in between now and February 15 will receive the “Members Only” Emote for free. This is a thank you to everyone for bearing with a string of technical issues related to the service.

As a thank you, we’re granting all past, present, and new Fortnite Crew members an exclusive new emote. Login or become a Fortnite Crew member by February 15 to receive the Members Only emote. pic.twitter.com/SMKTi6QJvX

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) January 14, 2021

Upcoming Fortnite Crew Benefits

Trusted leaker @iFireMonkey shared an interesting section from a survey that Epic Games recently sent out to players regarding the Fortnite Crew subscription. The question asked users to rank a selection of potential future rewards based in order of importance.

These benefits included:

• Custom matchmaking options

• Increased number of players for Creative Islands

• Increased number of Creative Islands

• Multi-month purchase options

• Account profile flair

• Cloud-based replay with unlimited storage

• Exclusive types of cosmetics

• Monthly physical mailer with additional rewards

• Exclusive player experiences

• Cosmetics that show off subscription tenure

• Giftable subscriptions

• Retail purchase options (e.g. Being able to buy Fortnite Crew memberships in stores)

Based on this list, Epic has big plans for the Fortnite Crew membership and aims to make it a way more attractive offering. The community is split on whether putting certain features such as custom matchmaking and increased number of players in Creative behind a pay wall is fair, but it certainly seems like a good way to drive subscriptions.

It will probably be a while before we see any of these new suggestions implemented, so for now it’s back to trying to decipher that pesky fox.