In a shocking turn of events, Epic started to give away one of the rarest items in the battle royale title, Fortnite's Axe of Champions pickaxe to some of its players for free. However, the developers revoked it shortly after realizing the mistake.
Fortnite's Axe of Champions was added last year as a special reward for the heroes of the Fortnite Champion Series. The Fortnite Champion Series is the most prestigious event in Fortnite's official competitive space. The gold-plated pickaxe is given to players who conquer the region's grand finals to become the season's top team. Shortly after the mishap, Epic removed Fortnite's Axe of Champions pickaxe.
Fortnite accidentally gives out Axe of Champions Pickaxe, takes it back later
In its official Twitter post, Epic said, "Oops," accompanied by a sweating emoji. Readers can check out the tweet below:
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To make the Axe of Champions even rarer, Epic has certain policies in place. The pickaxe swaps hands every season, implying that only 21 players (the best three-player teams from each of Fortnite's seven competitive regions) can have the object in possession at any given time. This provides the owner with a ton of bragging rights as well, and any player seen using it in-game is amongst the very best Fortnite players in the world.
Even Fortnite world champion Bugha joked about the incident and took a jab at Epic's mishap via a tweet:
The tweet is a perfect representation of the entire incident and shows what the lobby would be like if the axe was given away for free.
The Axe of Champions is a matter of prestige and the developers giving it out to everyone for free would defeat its purpose. However, the developers were quick to realize their mistake and the danger was averted by removing the pickaxe.