If there is a financial shoo-in more likely than the prospect of Fortnite: The Movie making hundreds of millions of dollars at the global box office, it must be a rare thing indeed. One can easily imagine Peely, the giant banana-shaped soldier of digital fortune who is a popular playable character in the game, with his eyes lit up at the prospect of all those V-Bucks (Fortnite's in-game currency). This is a title with more than 350 million players worldwide. It is a behemoth that constantly reinvents itself in ways that encourage players to keep spending money, and has become so confident in its own financial weight that its creator, Epic Games, is currently going mano a mano with Apple over fees the latter charges for enrolment in its App Store. A big-screen version, it is rumoured, is moving closer and closer.

Starting next month, you can subscribe to Fortnite. The game's publisher, Epic Games, announced Tuesday the Fortnite Crew subscription service will launch Dec. 2. It costs $11.99 a month. The plan includes a Battle Pass for the full season, 1,000 V-Bucks every month, and exclusive gear such as outfits. The Battle Pass and 1,000 V-Bucks combined typically cost about $16, or $7.99 apiece.

The hugely popular Fortnite earned a whopping $3 billion in 2018 and attracted more than 200 million players worldwide. Cybercriminals have been using Fortnite's in-game currency, V-bucks, to launder money, according to the Independent. Virtual, in-game money laundering is old news. Back in 2013, a report by security researcher Jean-Loup Richet revealed that online games were becoming increasingly popular venues for criminals to "clean" their money through "the opening of numerous different accounts on various online games to move money." Most commonly, criminals would send in-game currency to their associates in other countries, who would exchange it for real, untraceable money. In keeping with Richet's observations, cybercriminals on Fortnite are using stolen cards to purchase V-bucks from the game's official store and selling them, discounted and in bulk, on the dark web.

Unless you've been living under a pretty big rock, I'm willing to bet you've heard of Fortnite. Between catching the wave of popularity surrounding "Battle Royale" type games the last few years (thanks, Hunger Games) and being available on computers, game consoles, smartphones, and microwaves, to say Fortnite is crazy popular would be selling it short. The pick-up-and-play match style, cartoony graphics, and ability to play (and talk to) all your friends make it almost irresistible. If your kids haven't played yet, they've either been asked to play, have friends who play, or watch YouTubers play. Here's what you need to know about Fortnite.

Malicious websites trick fans of the video game into clicking on advertisements or filling out bogus surveys in the false hope of generating free V-Bucks – the digital currency used in the title. Although Fortnite is free-to-play, players have to pay for V-Bucks, which can be used to buy new outfits and weapons inside the video game. Security experts have warned players to exercise caution around websites that claim to have free V-Bucks – as these are usually elaborate ways to generate advertising revenue, or siphoning personal data from visitors. Fortnite scammers are cashing in on naive gamers and have made almost $1 million (£760,000) so far. Researchers identified sites that lured players as'V-Bucks generators'.

How much money can a free game bring in? If your game is "Fortnite," the answer is quite a lot. The popular video game notched $318 million in revenue last month for maker Epic Games. It was a new high and a 7 percent jump from the game's $296 million haul in April, according to the latest data from SuperData Research, a research firm that tracks the video game industry. Over the last three months, the game has generated roughly $837 million in revenue.

The creators of the wildly popular video game Fortnite have issued a stark warning to players about scam websites. Epic Games, the developers of the hit game, have reportedly warned players about scam sites that offer free or heavily-discounted V-Bucks, the game's virtual currency. The scam sites are thought to primarily target unsuspecting younger players, drawing them in with the promise of V-Bucks for little to no cost before stealing their login credentials and money. Fortnite's stratospheric levels of popularity within just the past few months have made it a prime target for scammers looking to prey on children and unwary gamers, with players of the game reportedly spending a staggering $296 million (£221.7 million) on V-Bucks in April 2018 alone. In response to the rise of fraud websites designed to lure in hapless players and steal their money and login information, Epic Games sent an email to players urging them to be wary of potential scam websites.

Here's how to download and play. Fortnite: Battle Royale is coming to the Nintendo Switch. Better yet, Epic's massively popular battle royale game is launching on Switch today. That's not entirely surprising given that numerous leaks and rumors pointed to the game's imminent release on Nintendo Switch. Here's everything you need to know about Fortnite on Nintendo Switch.

The results are in for Fortnite's second Showdown event, this time for Blitz with a few rules changes Epic made in the wake of the first Solo Showdown. This time around you only had 25 games to prove your worth, and in addition to placing high, kills also gave you points as well, so aggressive play and finishing well is rewarded, like many players were requesting. Also what was different this time is that Epic separated the contest by region, crowning 5 winners and 500 prize winners, rather than 1 and 100. They reduced the individual list prize pool as a result, but it was essentially doubled overall, with far more winners earning V-bucks. So, did you win? Probably not, given that tens of millions of people play this game and only 500 are walking away with anything.

And here comes the second competitive mode in Fortnite: Battle Royale. Epic Games is following up the popular Solo Showdown Limited Time Mode with Blitz Showdown, another high-level competitive mode that lets skilled players compete for big V-Buck prizes. And like with Solo Showdown, you're almost certainly not going to get any of those prizes: there are a ton of Fortnite: Battle Royale players out there, and the number that will be getting a reward is minuscule. Here's what the winners will get: Those rewards are down a bit from Solo Showdown, which offered 50,000 V-bucks at the top spot, but there's a wrinkle in how they're allotted. Epic is giving out rewards the top 100 players in each server region rather than doing it all as one big pool. So your chances are better, but still likely not great.