Fortnite celebrating World Cup 2018 with new skins, cosmetics

Soccer may have little to do with jumping out of a flying bus, but that's not stopping Epic from letting players show their love for their top team.

The World Cup kicked off this week, and if you were wondering whether Fortnite was going to get in on the action, wonder no more! The company's strategy of monetizing its free-to-play battle royale game by enticing you to splash out on skins, emotes and dances has already paid off fabulously for its developer Epic Games, so it's inevitable it would get in on the world's biggest sporting event.

To celebrate the World Cup, Epic has dropped a huge stadium on the game's map, added six themed skins with jerseys for both men and women characters, and added new weekly challenges to score goals on any of the island's many soccer fields.

fortnitesoccer2up — Choose from three different styles for either male or female characters.
Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET

To root for your favorite team, you can buy one of the six soccer skins, then you can edit the style to represent any country you want. You can also change the number on your jersey to mirror your favorite player. There are soccer themed items, too, like a glider with with a soccer ball design and pick axes with a golden boot or a Vuvuzela (those irritating plastic horns).

When your buddy messes up in Duos, you now have a way to tell him.

GIF by Jason Parker/CNET

Each of the soccer player skins will cost you 1,200 VBucks, which works out to about $12, £9.60 or AU$18. The Glider, Vuvuzela and soccer boot pick axes will run you 500 VBucks ($5), while the red card emote is only 200 VBucks ($2).