Fortnite's latest update age-restricts some cosmetics, leading 12-year-olds to petition for its reversal

A new Fortnite update which allows each Creative Mode map to be given its own separate age rating has caused a massive amount of backlash due to the effect it’s had on cosmetic skins, with some players having started a petition for it to be reversed.

As reported by IGN, following the introduction of this change, players have found that all of the game’s cosmetic items - yes, that means all of those dodgy skins that you bought as a joke, but have since come to love - have also been given their own age ratings. As a result, some of them can no longer be worn when loading into a map with an age rating below 12, with your character instead being kitted out with the game’s iconic default skin upon loading in.

“This is to help parents and players make informed play decisions about the thousands of games and other experiences in Fortnite,” a blog post announcing the update says regarding the reason specific ratings have been adopted for different islands.

“While there are thousands of Fortnite cosmetics available for all experiences, a small portion are not compatible with E or E10+ (or regionally equivalent) game ratings,” the post goes on to explain regarding the changes made to skins. “In these cases, players will notice a new icon in their Locker and in the Item Shop indicating which Outfits and accessories cannot be equipped inside islands below a certain ratings threshold.”

Naturally, given that skins like that of Resident Evil’s Leon Kennedy and Deadpool have reportedly been affected (thanks, Cultured Vultures), a lot of players aren’t pleased with this aspect of the update.

One, who goes by the handle Ghosty Sav, has even started a petition calling on Epic to “revert/re-evaluate the Fortnite age restriction system”.

“Immediately after this update went live, players noticed rather ridiculous cosmetics being 'age-restricted' due to the detailing of the cosmetic,” the petition - which has just over 4000 signatures as of writing - reads, “Myself and many others in the community feel this system is already causing problems, hence this petition has come to light.”

Addressing the backlash, the official Fortnite account has tweeted: “More on today’s rating announcement. About 7% of Fortnite Outfits can only be equipped in islands rated Teen. Over the next year we will enable most of these Outfits to be compatible with all ratings by having them auto-adjust appearance based on the island you want to play.”

Ironically, prior to this controversial update, Fortnite recently managed to hit a new concurrent player record thanks to an update which brought back the game’s iconic chapter one map.