The Fortnite Winterfest 2025 event has been officially launched today together with the Festive Gwinny Backbling, the first Christmas-themed cosmetic, however, the community’s reaction is a mixture of happiness and considerable dissatisfaction about the changes made to the event’s present-unwrapping system. The ousted practice of stacking daily presents led to one side pleading for it to be reinstated and the other to criticize the format of the event. A post was made by the professional Fortnite account announcing the event, and the players’ take on the matter was already evident through their comments where they mentioned that they were not happy with the change.

So, it is that time of the year, again? Fortnite has introduced the first tiny reward of their Winterfest event, a lovely Festive Gwinny Backbling, which is a little holiday pet that can be worn on the player’s back like a backpack. It is super cute for sure. But if you sift through the responses to that tweet, it’s like you’ve stumbled into a family quarrel on Christmas morning. The vibe is… not too jolly. Gamers are not only arguing about the backbling; they have already waged a battle against the absence of one of the main holiday event features: gift stacking.

If you have not been keeping an eye on the Fortnite advent calendar, Winterfest lets you log in every day to open a virtual gift and receive that day’s cosmetic item. In the past, if you missed a day or two—due to valid reasons like having exams or celebrating real Christmas—you could build up your unopened gifts and then open them all at once. It was an easy-going, user-friendly system. Not this year? Certainly not! The piling option has been canceled. If you do not log in on the designated day, that gift is… gone! Lost chance! And the gamers are frustrated.

The argument under the tweet is a clear demonstration of how the gamers articulate their views via comments. The most important point is “return stacking” and it is coming from accounts of all sizes. Fortnite Leaks 🕜 just shared a GIF reading “BRING BACK STACK PRESENTS 🎁🙏🏻”. Another user, SanTaito | Fortnite News, referred to it as “prob the worst Winterfest until now” and summed up his comment with the same request. It is not only the hardcore news accounts that are expressing their opinions. A user by the name of Anne-Marie replied, “PLEASE make the presents stack!! Sincerely a mom who has to log into multiple kid accounts to collect all their presents until they can play.” This comment is particularly telling—it is a direct issue that highlights how this change affects casual gamers and families in a negative way. It is a real pain point, not just the complaints of players who are very skilled at the game.

The criticisms have not only focused on stacking. There is a sentiment that this year’s Winterfest is somehow… less? One player called it “anti-consumer practices and FOMO,” meaning it is the opposite of an incentive to players to cheer them up, in fact the opposite, they feel that they are forced to log in daily to be able to claim their presents. Another player, Dorian, ironically quoted the tweet’s “‘Tis the season of giving…” and asked, “Where are my presents then…” Ouch. Many others feel the same way and find the gifts to be “unmissable” or just not very exciting. When the most demanded items in the comments are a Grinch skin (a reference to the 25th anniversary of the Jim Carrey movie, a valid point!), the revival of JJK (Jujutsu Kaisen) items, or the classic Snowfoot skin, it means that the current giveaways are not very appealing to everyone.

The Gwinny thing is really cute. Some gamers are actually looking forward to it. QueenEmiTV even remarked, “Now THAT’S adorable! I need this little fella.” So it’s not completely negative. A part of the community that collects everything and loves the new shiny thing always exists. But even that positive energy is a bit overwhelmed by the attention given to the surrounding system. It is like getting a beautifully wrapped present but then being told that you can only open it at exactly 3:17 PM on a Tuesday. The present is fantastic, but the rules are terrible.

This whole episode is a very interesting observation into live-service video game management. Epic Games has this large, loyal player community that is also very outspoken. They are very attentive. They will observe every little change, regardless of how small it may be. The removal of a feature such as present stacking that adds to a user’s experience, especially during a festive event that is supposed to spread happiness and sharing, was always going to be met with some unhappy people. And indeed, people are unhappy.