Well the skins can't be sold or anything, but you generally accept that. Just like I accept I can sell my Blockchain Cuties, I accept that I can't sell the things I get in other types of games like Fortnite. There's other purchases I've made in the past that I'd care more about getting my money back from than anything I've bought in Fortnite (and even still I've still only probably spent about the amount you would spend on buying Fortnite if you had to buy it outright instead of it being free to play, and I got extra stuff for spending that money).
Gaming is just an interest just like any other, so it's part of the real world anyway. Also I make a variety of content including gaming content and I would call making my gaming content productive. It involves learning, planning, commentating, editing, marketing and well, work honestly. Enjoyable work, but still work. Making a gaming video is making something therefore it is productive. It is as productive as any other art form (and I'm saying this as an artist that makes other types of art too, not just gaming content).
As for the real world, what counts as the real world if it doesn't include our interests? If playing Fortnite with my partner and friends talking over voice chat doesn't count as part of the real world, does playing Dungeons and Dragons face to face, or maybe playing a board game that doesn't have roleplay elements, or is writing on Steemit part of the real world? Interests are part of the real world. The universes related to those interests might not be (ie playing Fortnite is part of the real world, but the actual Fortnite map is not part of the real world as in you can't go there and visit it or alternative playing D&D is part of the real world, but the actual places and people in D&D aren't part of the real world).
There's a lot of stuff out there that can be a lot of fun and what we all find fun differs but all of the fun things people enjoy doing are part of the real world as activities (for example, the world of Harry Potter does not exist, but the activities of reading the books, watching the movies and being part of the fandom and engaging with the fandom are all part of the real world).
If the real world doesn't include interests like my creative interests, technology, all forms of gaming (board gaming, card gaming, VR, video games, RPG's etc - all forms pretty much), awesome fiction in multiple formats (both book / comic and screen) and technology including robots, I don't want to live in that real world. It would also be a lot more boring. I am in the real world but my real world includes my interests and I wouldn't have it any other way. My interests improve my life substantially. Some of them are even special interests and engaging with those interests is one of the best things I can do for my health and wellbeing.
Regardless, making gaming content is productive though. It is creating something which is a productive thing to do.
As for Epic's decision, that was pretty awesome really. It was like how a TV show leaves you with a cliffhanger or dramatic moment at the end of a season and then you don't see it resolved for a while. On an artistic level, that was quite well done. The only downside is that the kid portion of the game's audience may have been more naive and freaked out about it. The adults who play it would be less likely to fall for that. Some adults would and not all kids would, but on average the kids are at more risk of thinking it is real and overreacting to it.