Epic explains why some Xbox Fortnite players’ items are being removed

Jaxon Published September 7, 2025

A number of Xbox Fortnite players reported across social media that items and V-Bucks were being removed or refunded from their inventories, and developer Epic Games has now clarified exactly why this happened.

Fortnite is one of the most popular games in the world, with a developer always looking to both better the Battle Royale and add more monetization opportunities through in-game cosmetics. While every game has some bugs, and it’s almost impossible to eradicate them all as this indefinite development process marches ever onward, and Fortnite users recently experienced a unique issue that led to some Xbox players losing items from their inventories.

Why did Epic remove cosmetics from Xbox Fortnite players?

Epic stated that it took action against some Xbox users who took advantage of a bug in Fortnite that allowed them to fraudulently keep items and V-Bucks after using the game’s refund system.

Just a few days ago, multiple Fortnite players began to report that logging into the game on Xbox showed a prompt that their cosmetic items or V-Bucks had been removed. This was surprising as it wasn’t a one-off event, as numerous people were reporting the same experience. Many started to speculate that it could be a bug, and that Epic Games would be looking into it.

Epic Games

Epic responded to the issue and tweeted that the refunded Fortnite items and V-Bucks were purposefully removed. The developer revealed that an unintended workaround had allowed some players to take advantage of a refund system via Xbox to accrue unearned V-Bucks and cosmetic items as far back as last year. With the issue now resolved, affected items were being removed from players’ inventories, even though it was now months later.

Epic explains Xbox refund issue

Fortnite developer Epic Games put out a more detailed explanation to further clarify the situation to players who may still be confused, pointing to issues with refunds on Xbox.

Epic explained that usually, when a player receives a refund, the purchased items involved in the refund are instantly removed from their Fortnite accounts. If V-Bucks are purchased, spent, and then refunded, Epic removes the most recently purchased items. If those items were gifted, the refunded V-Bucks and items are removed from the original player’s and the gift recipient’s accounts.

This system malfunctioned on Xbox between December 2024 and July 2025, and while players were still receiving their refunds, some items could remain in their inventories. Epic reveals that most players continued to purchase and refund normally during this time, but some exploited the issue to acquire more V-Bucks and cosmetics than were deserved.

The developer recently began to process back-dated refunds on Xbox, and this is why so many Fortnite players noticed items being removed. Epic stated that it is trying to differentiate between normal and fraudulent refunds as part of this process, and towards that end, items belonging to players who made fewer than seven refunds since December 2024 are being restored. Affected items will remain removed for players who received seven or more refunds during that time.