Epic offers refunds on NFL skins after removing Washington's old team name from Fortnite
Refunds for the skin set are being offered, and will not require a refund token.
In July, Electronic Arts removed the name of Washington's National Football League team from Madden NFL 21, after the team announced that it would finally change its name to something that isn't a racist slur. Now, according to Fortnite Intel, Epic Games is following EA's lead by removing the name from the NFL skins in Fortnite.
The eight NFL skins—Rush, Juke, Interceptor, Blitz, Strong Guard, Spike, Gridiron, and End Zone—were introduced to Fortnite in 2018 in the Fourth Down Set, well before Washington ownership decided to make the change. Following this update, the colors are still in place, but the name and logo are gone.
Slight Update: This refers to all NFL skins, the reasoning appears to be due to the team "Redskins" renaming themselves to "Washington Football Team" due to the old name being "racially insensitive moniker"October 13, 2020
An in-game message announcing the change says players who are unhappy with it have until November 12 to request a refund, which will not require the use of a refund token. As explained on Epic's support site, all Fortnite players have three "refund tokens" which enables them to claim refunds on any eligible items purchased in the game within 30 days, and without question. But only three—and once they're gone, you get no more, so naturally most players are going to be very selective about picking their shots.
To request a refund, go to your profile page in the Fortnite settings, and then enter Lifetime Return Requests. The "Submit a Request" option should show the NFL skins as eligible for a refund, but if the button is greyed out you may need to either play a game, or enter and leave Creative Mode, to get the wheels turning.
I've reached out to Epic for comment on the change, and will update if I receive a reply. For the record, Washington's NFL team still doesn't have a new name: It's currently called Washington Football Team, and its logo is a big "W."
Thanks, Polygon.
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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.