Honestly, if you’ve been hanging around the Fortnite community lately, the "is Renegade Raider coming back to Fortnite" question has probably been living in your head rent-free. It’s the ultimate "what if." For years, owning that skin was like holding a winning lottery ticket from 2017.
But things just got very real.
We aren't talking about leaks or clickbait thumbnails on YouTube anymore. As of right now, in early 2026, the impossible actually happened. Epic Games did the unthinkable and opened the vault.
The OG Season Shop is Actually Here
If you log in today, you’ll see something called the OG Season Shop. This isn't your standard Item Shop rotation. It's a throwback to the Season 1 mechanics that most players only know from history books (or old Ninja clips).
Yes, Renegade Raider is back.
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It’s currently sitting there, but there’s a massive catch. You can’t just throw V-Bucks at the screen and call it a day. Epic decided to make everyone work for it, mimicking the original grind from 2017. Back then, you had to hit Level 20 before you were even allowed to buy her for 1,200 V-Bucks. In this 2026 return, they've swapped levels for a massive XP requirement.
How to get her right now
To unlock the ability to purchase Renegade Raider, you need to grind out 1,500,000 XP.
That is a lot of matches.
The good news is that Epic is letting you earn this XP across any mode—Battle Royale, LEGO Fortnite, Rocket Racing, or even Creative maps. Once you hit that 1.5 million mark, the "Locked" status disappears, and you can spend your 1,200 V-Bucks.
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What Most People Get Wrong About This Return
There’s a huge misconception that this "ruins" the skin. People love to argue about "OG status" like it’s a sacred religion. To handle the backlash from players who owned the skin for nine years, Epic added a "Black & Gold" style.
This style is exclusive.
If you didn't buy Renegade Raider back in 2017, you will never get the Black & Gold version. You only get the default and the checkered styles. It’s a peace offering to the veterans, basically saying, "We’re letting the new kids have the outfit, but you still have the rarest trophy."
Why This Matters for the Future of Rare Skins
For a long time, the community assumed Epic had a "legal" reason for not bringing back Season 1 items. Turns out, that was mostly just a myth. Their Terms of Service have always been pretty clear: they own the pixels, and they can do whatever they want with them.
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The return of Renegade Raider suggests a few things:
- No skin is truly "never coming back" anymore. If the poster child for rarity can return, anything can.
- XP-Gated Shops are the new norm. Epic realized that making people play the game for hours to "earn" the right to buy a skin is better for their player metrics than just a 24-hour shop window.
- The "OG" brand is Epic’s emergency glass. Whenever the player count dips or they want a massive winter surge, they pull the OG lever.
The Clock is Ticking
You don't have forever to make up your mind. The OG Season Shop is a limited-time event. It’s scheduled to vanish on January 31, 2026, at 7 PM ET.
If you don't hit that XP goal and buy her by then, she goes back into the vault. Will she stay there for another nine years? Probably not, given how successful this return has been, but you definitely shouldn't bet on her appearing in the regular Daily Shop anytime soon.
Actionable Steps for Players
If you’re serious about grabbing her before the deadline, here is how you should spend your time:
- Prioritize LEGO Fortnite and Creative: If you’re burnt out on Battle Royale, these modes often offer the fastest "passive" XP gains to hit that 1.5 million requirement.
- Check your V-Bucks: Ensure you have the 1,200 V-Bucks ready. There’s nothing worse than hitting the XP goal on the final night only to realize you’re short on currency.
- Don't Fall for Scams: With the hype at an all-time high, "Renegade Raider Account" scams are everywhere. Ignore them. You can literally buy the skin legally in the game right now. Don't risk a permanent ban for a "stacked" account that will get reclaimed in a week anyway.
The era of Renegade Raider being a mythical unicorn is officially over. She’s now a "grind" skin. Whether that makes her less cool is up to you, but if you've wanted her since Chapter 1, this is your moment.