Epic Games did theirs free pickaxes for lucky free for all players. But, with the hat trick going against, the reward system went live today morning, and while the pickaxe does seem to work, maybe Epic Games has bungled the loading screen.
The glitch story goes: Upon logging in, players should be gifted with a shiny shiny new pickaxe (which half of the replies label a metal toothpick) AND a unique event loading screen. Instead, reports from numerous players flowing in claim they have been given the Asajj Ventress loading screen once more. For some, as much as three times. Not really what the players had bargained for.
That pickaxe has sold itself to the players. People have been calling it anything from “Phasma’s staff” to “Din Djarin’s beskar staff,” to, well, “metal toothpick.” Eh, free is free after all. One user put it well: “Free!!! I love free 😊” Indeed.
The loading screen has caused quite a stir: Several other players, including @Mahdoumi, chimed in with, “Honestly it’s the third time this they’ve rewarded me the same Loading Screen.🙄🙄,” while @kicki1981 outright called it an error. Epic are yet to comment on this, but with so much publicity, they probably won’t be silent for long.
Just in case anyone’s wondering about how to pick these rewards up, one simply needs to log in to Fortnite sometime between June 3 and June 11, 2025, and the items should automatically be dropped into inventory. Although, it would probably be wise to give that loading screen a thorough once-over upon arrival just as a precaution.
The timing of it all, in and of itself, is quite something. Shot right before a huge Saturday event and new season, too, which has @LoganRober2364 amped up. Could this just be laying the groundwork for something big? That pickaxe looks suspiciously like Star Wars territory, after all. And with all the recent collaborations, who knows what they’ll hit next?
Some are already toothpick-ing… I mean, creatively using their new pickaxe. @PhoenixXander04 said they combined it with the recently acquired Robin skin, and @vectoresident declares: “it’s a clean pickaxe that will go nice with most of my skins.” Meanwhile, @iGryphn is perfectly happy to call it “metal toothpick.” Different strokes, I suppose.
Really, the aggravating weirdness has a classic Fortnite vibe – free stuff with a pinch of chaos and players making the best out of situations that come their way. Even if it’s that silly old loading screen for the third time. Hopefully, Epic will be able to sort this out finally, so until then… enjoy your space toothpicks, everybody.
And if you’re wondering when it does actually start in Argentina, that is, @grok helpfully said, 1:04 AM local time on June 3rd. Time zones, fun. Anyway, if you’ll pardon me, I’m off to log in and check if I get that blasted Ventress screen again.
