Fortnite publisher Epic Games said Tuesday it is laying off 1,000 employees to save money as it grapples with industry-wide and company-specific challenges.

The Federal Trade Commission is issuing more refunds to Fortnite players who it says were charged for unwanted purchases.

U.S. consumers who were tricked into purchases they didn’t want from Fortnite maker Epic Games are now starting to receive refund checks, the Federal Trade Commission said this week.

At roughly 6 a.m. Friday morning, Fortnite was expected to debut a new season called “Chapter 5 Season 2: Myths and Mortals.”

The Walt Disney Co. says it is paying $1.5 billion for a stake in “Fortnite” maker Epic Games.

Eminem has played concerts on nearly every major stage you could think of. From the Academy Awards to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame stage, he’s been everywhere. But now, he can add a concert inside of the popular video game Fortnite to his list.

The Federal Trade Commission announced late last year that Epic Games would pay $520 million in penalties and refunds to settle complaints revolving around children’s privacy and its payment methods that tricked players into making unintended purchases.

The maker of the popular Fortnite video game will pay $520 million in penalties and refunds to settle complaints revolving around children’s privacy and its payment methods that tricked players into making unintended purchases.

Tim Sweeney, CEO of Fortnite maker Epic, said Wednesday it's been told by Apple that the game will be “blacklisted from the Apple ecosystem" until the companies' legal case is resolved and all appeals are exhausted, which could take as long as five years.

If Epic Games hopes to dismantle the fortress surrounding Apple’s iPhone and its app store, the video game maker probably will need to roll out some heavier artillery heading into the second week of a trial threatening Apple’s $2 trillion empire.

On Monday, Apple faces a trial that could upend its iron control over its app store, which brings in billions of dollars each year while feeding more than 1.6 billion iPhones, iPads, and other devices.

FILE - This March 19, 2018 file photo shows Apple's App Store app. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)LONDON – Epic Games said Wednesday it filed an antitrust complaint against Apple with European Union regulators, opening a new front in its war with the tech giant over app store payments. When Epic tried last year to bypass the platform with a direct payment system, Apple dropped the Fortnite app from its app store. Ad“What’s at stake here is the very future of mobile platforms,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said in an online post. Spotify refuses to use Apple’s payment system, saying it makes subscriptions more expensive than Apple’s rival music streaming service.

The activism from smaller rivals adds to scrutiny the tech giants are facing from U.S. and European regulators and lawmakers. Apple is the group's main target, though Google's app store policies are also on its radar. Both companies this summer dropped the popular game Fortnite from their app stores after the game’s developer introduced a direct payment plan that bypasses their platforms. In addition to the app stores, Big Tech is facing fresh scrutiny from antitrust regulators. Lawmakers and consumer advocates accuse Google of abusing its dominance in online search and advertising to stifle competition and boost its profits.

A long-awaited update for Fortnite looks like it is finally getting the green light. After a few delays, regular cars is going to be added to Fortnite by Epic Games on Wednesday, according to Engadget. While Fortnite’s map has had bikes, hoverboards, planes and shopping carts, cars have been absent until now. Epic Games was forced to delay the update due to technical problems, leading to weeks of speculation over when the update will arrive. Here’s the trailer video for the “Joyride” update:

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit in which two former University of Maryland mens basketball players accused makers of the Fortnite video game of misappropriating a dance move that the ex-teammates popularized. A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit in which two former University of Maryland mens basketball players accused makers of the Fortnite video game of misappropriating a dance move that the ex-teammates popularized. Their copyright infringement lawsuit claimed the Running Man dance emote that Fortnite players can purchase for their characters is identical to the dance that Nickens and Brantley took credit for creating. Ribeiro dropped his lawsuit against Epic Games last year after the U.S. But Plaintiffs claims that Epic Games copied the dance do not support any of their theories, the judge wrote.

(CNN) - Popular Fortnite YouTuber FaZe Jarvis has been issued a lifetime ban by the game's creators, Epic Games, following his public use of cheating hacks. In the video, which has over 6 million views, Jarvis gets visibly upset while admitting to cheating and apologizing to fans and Epic Games. Epic Games confirmed to CNN that Jarvis has been banned, saying, "We have a zero-tolerance policy for the usage of cheat software. Jarvis is not the first to be banned from Fortnite for cheating, but his punishment is certainly among the most severe. Gamers Damion "XXiF" Cook and Ronald "Ronaldo" Mach were banned from playing for two weeks in May after colluding with other players in Fortnite World Cup qualifying rounds.

The nightmare for gamers is over: Fortnite is back online with a new chapter. (CNN) - The nightmare for gamers is over: Fortnite is back online with a new chapter. The hugely popular video game came back online Tuesday after a two-day outage while its next iteration was prepped. Users went into a panic Sunday afternoon when the landscape in the game blew up, dragging players into a black hole. They were left watching a mostly dark screen and a spinning black hole, with no way to play.

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)The nightmare for gamers is over: "Fortnite" is back online with a new chapter. The hugely popular video game came back online Tuesday after a two-day outage while its next iteration was prepped. Users went into a panic Sunday afternoon when the landscape in the game blew up, dragging players into a black hole. They were left watching a mostly dark screen and a spinning black hole, with no way to play. Even during the weekend's outage, roughly 100,000 people were watching a live stream of the black hole on Twitch.

(CNN) - A special event to end the tenth season of Fortnite actually ended the game altogether at least for the afternoon. ET, a rocket on the island where Fortnite is set blew up the landscape in the game and dragged all of the players into a black hole, leaving nothing but a mostly dark screen and a spinning black hole and no way for users to play for hours. Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Breslau called Sunday's black hole explosion and subsequent outage "the most watched gaming event in history," with millions of viewers on Twitch and YouTube. After the Fortnite outage, some users also complained they could no longer log in to play any other games from Epic, either.

Getty ImagesAnybody looking forward to playing Sunday's live Fortnite event called, "The End," couldn't have imagined it would live up to its name so literally. Just after 2 p.m., millions of players saw their screens turn into a tiny black hole after the game went out of existence. Now, players around the world are wondering what will happen next with servers down and the black hole still on screens. After logging on, players saw a Dusty Divot rocket launch into the air, according to Forbes. Multiple rockets then came out of various rifts and went randomly around the map before finally settling in one spot in front of the suspended-in-time meteor.

(CNN) - Fortnite maker Epic Games said it would allow its esports players to express political beliefs in support of Hong Kong democracy protesters, despite its partial ownership by Chinese tech giant Tencent. Responding to Twitter users Wednesday, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said if a famous Twitch streamer like Tfue or Ninja hypothetically shouted "Free Hong Kong," there would be no repercussions from Epic. "China players of Fortnite are free to criticize the US or criticize Epic just as equally as all others." Its rival Activision Blizzard received flak from gamers around the world after it disqualified and banned a "Hearthstone" player for shouting a popular Hong Kong protest slogan. On Tuesday, Blizzard said player Ng "Blitzchung" Wai Chung violated competition rules when he shouted "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" during a livestreamed post-match interview.

The CEO of Epic Games, the company behind the popular online video game, has landed on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans for the first time. The magazine placed Sweeney at the 150th spot with an estimated net worth of $4.5 billion. Microsoft founder Bill Gates placed second ($106 billion net worth), investor Warren Buffett is third ($80 billion net worth) and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is in fourth place with a net worth nearly $70 billion. Forbes said the collective net worth of everyone on the list is worth a record-breaking $2.96 trillion, up more than 2% from last year. The Forbes 400 list came under fire two years ago over its reporting on the wealth of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

Fortnite's Batman crossover offering is officially out, just in time for Batman Day. (Epic Games)(CNN) - Fortnite's Batman crossover offering is officially out, just in time for Batman Day. For players, the collaboration, dubbed "Fortnite X Batman," means new Batman-themed goodies like skins and weapons, as well as new challenges to complete and rewards to be won. Players can outfit their characters with two versions of the classic Batman suit, as well as a sleek version of the Catwoman suit, complete with head goggles. The crossover only lasts until October 6 so fans will need to complete those challenges and snag those goodies before they're gone forever.

Twitch vs. Mixer? But rival Microsoft is ramping up its video game streaming efforts and may give Twitch a run for its money soon. Mixer vs. TwitchMixer has a smaller community than Twitch. Like any online platform, Mixer has its share of online harassment, but creators said it is quick to remove hate speech. Real-time streams have benefited Mixer streamers who said they enjoy live feedback from their fans.

Smoke and confetti filled the air at this weekend's Fortnite competition at New York's Arthur Ashe tennis stadium, after fans flew in from around the world for the first ever World Cup. Players have flown from all over the world to compete at the first ever Fortnite World Cup, a large sporting event at New York's Arthur Ashe tennis stadium with $30 million in cash prizes. Fans and announcers were stunned late Saturday when Aqua and Nyhrox, two underdogs, beat out 49 other teams, many from larger, more funded organizations. Following the winners' announcement, their social media accounts began to blow up with climbing follower counts and likes. This is just crazy @nyhrox, Aqua tweeted, spelling it "kreizy."

NEW YORK (CNN) - Smoke and confetti filled the air at this weekend's Fortnite competition at New York's Arthur Ashe tennis stadium, after fans flew in from around the world for the first ever World Cup. Finalists who qualified from all over the world have flown in to compete for a $30 million prize pool at the World Cup. Junior and his brother Rodrigo Silva, 17, took a plane from Brazil after playing for the Fortnite World Cup qualifiers and not making the cut. Online gaming brings people together, and some were able to meet up at the World Cup for the first time. Benjyfishy, 15, from the United Kingdom and MrSavageM, 14, from Norway, are both professional Fortnite players with significant social media followings.

RL Grime (left) and Airwaks (right) celebrate after winning the Pro-AM during the Fortnite World Cup Finals e-sports event at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The Fortnite World Cup brought together 10,000 attendees in the Arthur Ashe tennis stadium, and over 180,000 more viewed online. Airwaks, 24, from Switzerland, is a former League of Legends professional player who has now set his sights on the Fortnite World Cup. His duo partner, RL Grime, 28, is an artist known for his trap music. Famous Fortnite streamer Ninja also competed in the Creative Cup, and his team placed fifth, for a total prize of $295,000.

The uber popular video game and the basketball GOAT have something in store for the new Fortnite update, which goes live today. The Fortnite World Cup finals will take place at Arthur Ashe tennis stadium in Queens, New York this weekend. Players from all over the world have flown to the Big Apple and will compete over a $30 million prize pool. Several high-profile video game players, including Ninja and Dr. Lupo did not qualify for the finals. But it told CNN Business that the World Cup was a chance for unknown players to grow more famous.