- Fortnite Winterfest Lodge returns with 14 presents this year.
- Players can only claim presents by logging in every day.
- Presents will be available to unlock between Dec 18, 2025 and Jan 5, 2026.
Fortnite dropped its most anticipated and biggest update of 2025, Winterfest, yesterday, and released it with its second patch of the season, v39.11. The update brought the same old holiday cheer to the Battle Royale island, which decorated the snow-themed POIs with Christmas trees and decor.
Furthermore, the update also brought back Crackshot’s Cabin to the island, alongside a DeLorean vehicle that players can use to travel into a time warp and claim some OG loot. While this year’s Winterfest update may not seem as heavy on collabs as it always has been, there’s plenty of gameplay content with the new Chapter 7 update.
But one feature that players always look forward to with every Winterfest is the Winterfest Lodge and daily presents that they can open to get free cosmetics. This year, the lodge returned once again, but with a major change that avoids a feature players loved – stacking gifts and opening them all on a single day. The presents no longer stack, and instead, the game turns it into a daily chore, which triggered an instant backlash from the community.
Massive Fortnite Winterfest Change Upsets Players as It No Longer Allows You To Stack Presents
Fortnite Winterfest update brought back the Winterfest Lodge this year, and it brought 14 gifts for players to open each day from December 18, 2025, until January 5, 2026. Each year, when the lodge presents came around, players used to wait until Christmas or the final day of the update and open all the presents at once. That didn’t require them to log in each day, but rather enjoy holidays and open the presents at their own convenience. However, with the latest update, Epic has changed that.
In the fine print of the update patch notes, it clearly reads, “To clarify, you can only open one present each day from today to January 5 at 9 am ET – they don’t stack.” This means you’ll need to log in to the game every day to claim a present, and if you miss a present for that day, you won’t be able to open or claim it again, thus turning this fun yearly ritual into a daily chore.
When players realized it once dataminers pointed it out on social media, they quickly started bashing Epic for making such a decision without community feedback, as they have been doing it for all year on their X page. One such player wrote, “What’s with them ruining every free cosmetic opportunity this Chapter? First, the changes to Ranked rewards and now this.” Another chimed in, “Daily presents only? That’s painful holiday discipline.” A third user commented, “They really are desperate for that daily player count, aren’t they?”
I get that Epic is definitely trying to get players to play the Winterfest update each day, thanks to all the new gameplay content and collabs, but the enforcement of such a feature that alters the joy of “opening presents” is absolutely unnecessary. Free rewards, as per my experience with Fortnite for 8 years now, should be available to claim as the player wants them, and rather than be locked behind a daily login structure like those scammy mobile games.
What do you think about this change? Do you think Winterfest 2025 would still be fun with this added stress of logging into Fortnite each day? Let us know in the comments below!
