Players use demo phones to get Samsung 'exclusive' Galaxy skin in Fortnite

Cal Jeffrey

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Facepalm: Samsung thought it would be cool to give new Galaxy Note 9 and Tab S4 owners their own exclusive skin to show off in the battle-royal game Fortnite — and it is cool. However, players have found a way to get the skin without buying a device. So much for exclusivity.

In early August, data miners uncovered what was thought to be an exclusive skin for the then soon to be released Samsung Galaxy Note 9. This turned out to be somewhat accurate as we discovered at Galaxy Unpacked 2018. Samsung later confirmed that the "Galaxy" skin was also available for Tab S4 owners.

While it was meant to be a cool perk to go with the Samsung/Fortnite timed-exclusive deal, players have been claiming the skin without buying a device. The exploit involves downloading and signing into Fortnite from a demo phone at the store. Once three matches have been played, the player will receive a Galaxy gift box within 24-48 hours.

Samsung is less than happy about the workaround and has disabled the demo devices in its stores from being able to download or install the Fortnight app. However, the exploit still works in non-Samsung stores. According to one Reddit user, it even works at stores like Best Buy as long as you use a demo from the carrier section rather than the Samsung table.

“I was in the exact same situation with retail mode at Best Buy, but I got it to work,” said SolarTrans in the FortniteBR subreddit. “Right when you need to sign into Fortnite, I disconnected from their WiFi and connected to my phone’s hotspot. That bypassed their network’s restriction and let me get online and play my games! That was the Verizon demo device at the carrier tables, not the one at the Samsung table. Those at the Samsung table were programmed to not download the Fortnite installer and I couldn’t find a workaround.”

Once you receive the Galaxy skin, it can be used on any platform or device. Of course, there are a couple of caveats to cheating the system.

For starters, you have to be able to go through the whole process of downloading, installing, and playing three matches without getting caught by the sales reps. This is no easy task considering most stores are already aware that this is going on and are going to be suspicious of anyone using a Tab or Note for an extended period.

Additionally, the trick only works once per device. So if someone else already claimed the skin on the demo model you are using, your efforts will be for naught.

It seems to be more trouble than it’s worth in my opinion, but it is a pretty cool skin.

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If you just wanted to play three matches quickly, why not just not pull your parachute when you jump? Swan dive head-first into the ground, then load up the next match. Repeat two more times.
 
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