Someone just spent $42,500 on a copy of Fortnite, a free game

The original version of Fortnite just sold for $42,500 — a seemingly high price for a free-to-play game.

To be fair, this is a boxed version fortnite – Also provides access to the game's original “Save the World” mode, which Epic Games still requires you to pay a small fee to access.

But there's no indication that sealed copies of the world's biggest battle royale game will actually be played. In fact, it was sold in a box with a 10 A++ rating from video game rating company Wata – the highest quality score possible.

seller estate auctionthis copy of Fortnite is the Xbox One version of the game's 2017 original. Only a limited number of physical copies were produced, and this version harkens back to when the game's now-ubiquitous battle royale mode was just a side product.

As mentioned, it does include access to Save the World, which is worth…something. Epic Games has bundled the original Fortnite mode in various ways over the years, but currently sells access as an $18.49 add-on that includes 1,500 V-Bucks ($18 separately) as well as exclusive skins.

Even taking this into account, you're still paying odds of $42,482.

Today, Fortnite is a very different beast—a virtual universe that includes a battle royale mode, user-generated maps, and Lego and music products. Oh, and it's home to just about every media franchise licensed for video games, as well as real-life pop stars, and now even Quentin Tarantino.

Earlier today, Tarantino fans get first look at director's 'Lost Chapter' from new film 'Kill Bill'starring animated Uma Thurman and Fortnite's Banana Peli, will make her in-game debut. If you told this to someone in 2017, I doubt they would believe you.

Of course, video games attracting big bucks as collectibles is nothing new, and overall, the $42,500 price pales in comparison to other auction prices. Back in 2021, factory-sealed Copy of 'Super Mario Bros.' sold for record $2 millionalthough there is debate over whether the sale counts as an auction in the traditional sense. formally, Guinness World Records Admitted that a copy of Super Mario 64 sold for $1.56 million was the highest successful bid on a video game to date. But who knows how much a copy of Fortnite will be worth in 100 years?

If you're looking for the best deals this week, we're actively rounding up the best Black Friday deals on video games, tech, and more. You can find all of our top picks and reduced prices in our full section black friday hubor check out our related pages game console, Nintendoand Xbox trade.

Image source: Heritage Auctions/HA.com

Tom Phillips is IGN's news editor. You can contact Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social