Normally, when you buy a skin in Fortnite, you can simply equip it and immediately sport your new costume. The new Star Wars skin that Fortnite just released is different. For 1,500 V-Bucks — or about $13 — you get the privilege of grinding XP before you can don the latest Jar Jar Binks skin.
The chaotic battle royale offers two versions of the ditzy Gungan; one is the canonic alien you see in the main Star Wars movies, while the other originates in a long-standing fan meme. Darth Jar Jar wears a menacing black and red attire emblematic of the dark side. To play up the joke, fans need to earn a whopping 1,280,000 XP before they can actually start terrorizing the island as dark Jar Jar.
To put this into perspective: The basic battle pass this season goes up to level 70, which requires 5.6M XP. So unlocking Jar Jar is the equivalent of getting 17 consecutive battle pass levels. It’s not impossible by any means, merely time consuming. Unless, of course, you opt to play a user-generated level designed specifically to grant the user massive amounts of XP without doing much.
Undoubtedly, at least some who buy this Jar Jar skin will have to resort to such methods. We’re nearing the end of the season and there isn’t a ton of time before the skin leaves the shop on June 6. Dedicated players have likely already amassed a high level through the easier challenges in the season, so any consequent XP will be tied to more complex or difficult goals. All of which is to say, anyone sporting Darth Jar Jar can be considered a veritable tryhard.
On top of all of this, the $13 you spend only goes toward the basic Jar Jar skin. If you want the associated accessories like a back bling or weapon skin, you’ll have to shell out even more money. There is no bundle that grants you the set for a slightly lower price than purchasing each item individually.
Fans are rightfully baffled, judging from reactions on places like Reddit. “Kind of insane tbh,” reads the top comment on a thread asking why Epic Games would do this.
Japes aside, Darth Jar Jar is not the first of his kind. In the past, Epic has tied enormous XP requirements to purchasable skins, but those instances were more readily accepted by the community due to their rarity. “OG skins,” as they are known, are classic styles that were largely available near the start of Fortnite’s lifespan. To honor the faithful who got the skins before they were cool, Epic made sure that everyone else had to earn the right to wear the same skins.
Darth Jar Jar, though? As Binks might say, how wude.
