Trying to Buy Fortnite Merch with Monero? Not So Fast!
This week, Monero gained some buzz as it appeared the privacy coin had been chosen as the select cryptocurrency payment option for an official Fortnite merch store. However, Tim Sweeney, founder of Fortnite creator company Epic Games, has since dashed some cold water on what seemed to be a slam dunk for XMR.
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After Much Ado, Monero Payments for Fortnite Merch Off for Now It Seems
On January 1st, Monero builder Riccardo Spagni hailed the acceptance of Monero (XMR) by merch.fortnite.com, or “Retail Row.” Yet not even one week later, the site’s XMR payments option had been shuttered, and Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney has called the situation “accidental.”
Actually, Fortnite’s brief foray into crypto was accidental. We worked with a partner to open a merchandise store, and somewhere along the way Monero payment was enabled.https://t.co/vzmSCMey3T
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) January 6, 2019
Fortnite is a wildly popular battle royale game whose profile has surged worldwide since its launch in 2017. The title has generated hundreds of millions of dollars worth of revenue every month as of 2018.
As such, Retail Row’s brief embrace of XMR caused a frenzy in the cryptoverse, as onlookers hailed the apparent acceptance as a step toward mass crypto adoption. But Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney has since come out and said the XMR payments, which have now been rescinded, were solely the work of a partner company.
Googling this, there’s quite a rumor mill out there. No, Epic doesn’t have any cryptocurrency partners and aren’t in any crypto partnership discussions with anyone. We do read lots of papers and talk to smart people to learn more in anticipation of an eventual intercept.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) January 6, 2019
“Epic doesn’t have any cryptocurrency partners and aren’t in crypto partnership discussions with anyone,” Sweeney said.
“We do read lots of papers and talk to smart people to learn more in anticipation of an eventual intercept.”
The Epic Games founder also said many at the company were fans of the “decentralized computing tech underlying cryptocurrency” but that “young gamers” would need to be shielded from crypto while volatility and fraud abounded in the space.
Sweeney’s comments come after several users reported buying merch from Retail Row with XMR before the shutdown.
Too cool: the Fortnite merch store (https://t.co/KNL4IFCFHk) lets you pay in Monero, so now you can purchase that sweet Durrr Burger onesie without your friends / family / coworkers judging you. https://t.co/XYs1NjGvGp
— Riccardo Spagni (@fluffypony) January 1, 2019
Sweet and Sour
The good news is that Sweeney’s remarks suggested Epic Games would be open-minded toward future cryptocurrency initiatives. The bad news is that the cryptoverse still appears too fledgling for the gaming company to be too bold toward it in the interim.
So while many elements of cryptocurrency media initially reported the story as a huge success for crypto mass adoption, that’s not quite so.
“There’s quite the rumor mill out there,” Sweeney said.
Yet the march toward mass adoption for the cryptoeconomy continues on undeterred, temporary hiccup or not. There will be leaps and bounds as well as setbacks along the way.
But every conversation that’s started regarding cryptocurrencies is another opportunity for the maturing tech to make further inroads.
Monero’s Fortnite fame might have been fleeting. But it raised its profile, even just incrementally, nonetheless.
What’s your take? Have you ever used Monero to purchase anything on the web? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images via Daily Fortnite Battle Royale Moments, Fortnite Retail Row
