Pre–free-to-play copy of Fortnite sells for $42,500 — buyer probably won’t play it

As a piece of gaming history, an original retail copy has modest value — typical used Xbox One copies tend to list for roughly $40–$70 on auction sites. But a sealed unit occupies a completely different market tier.

Early retail copies included an Early Access Pack code, which unlocked exclusive cosmetics and allowed players to earn V-Bucks by playing Save the World. Because that mode could be farmed for V-Bucks without the usual limits, holders of these packs could accumulate large quantities of in-game currency over time.

Epic stopped selling Founders/Founders-equivalent packs digitally in 2020, making those original Early Access codes highly sought-after. Consequently, sealed copies with unused codes can fetch well over $1,000, and the codes themselves sometimes sell for comparable amounts.

The Wata grade appears to have added the lion’s share of the sale price — roughly an extra $41,000 on top of the copy’s baseline value. Whether that premium is “worth it” is ultimately subjective, but the market decided. The situation does carry a touch of irony: this perfectly graded example will likely remain sealed inside its protective slab, which means the very codes that drive much of its desirability will remain inaccessible to anyone who buys it.

When does Fortnite Chapter 7 start? Follow that link for full launch details.