In a slightly bizarre series of events, Fortnite developer Epic Games has back-pedalled on its decision to sell the 'Gunner' pet cosmetic item in-game.

The item arrived in the game's shop yesterday, but fans were quick to notice that it looked very similar to an item previously released as part of the game's Season Six Battle Pass. Reddit user PhantomRacer32 shared the following image online, with many suggesting that the new item was simply a quick re-skin rather than a new product.

This wouldn't usually be a problem, except for the fact that Epic Games has always promised to not sell Battle Pass-exclusive items in the game's store. Players shell out their virtual V-Bucks in-game for each season's Pass, with the expectation that the items they receive in return are exclusively tied to that deal. It's easy to understand why fans would be upset that one of their exclusive - and paid-for - goodies has been remodelled and thrown on the store for everyone to buy.

It didn't take long for Epic to realise its mistake, however, with the following statement being provided on social media just hours after the item became available:

"We should not have released the Gunner Pet and apologize for doing so. Within the next couple of days, all purchases of Gunner will be refunded for the full amount of 1000 V-bucks as well as an additional 200 V-bucks and the Pet will be removed from the Locker. Anyone who purchased Gunner and refunds it prior to this make-good will instead receive 200 V-bucks and a replacement Refund Token that can be put towards any eligible items that were purchased within the past 30 days."

It's good to see that Epic has listened to its fans and is providing them with refunds and additional compensation, although it's hard to see how it thought players wouldn't notice the re-skin. Either way, the issue's been resolved - so now we can get back to snagging those Victory Royales!