Epic Order to Pay $245M to Consumers Over Unwanted Fortnite Purchases by the FTC Finalized - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 15 March 2023 / 2,491 Views
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US has finalized its order to Epic Games to pay $245 million back to consumers over "unwanted purchases." Epic also has to pay a $275 million penalty over violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule.
In December 2022 the FTC stated Epic violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and it "deployed design tricks, known as dark patterns, to dupe millions of players into making unintentional purchases."
The FTC in another complaint said Epic used a way to trick players of all ages into making unwanted purchases, which led children to amass unauthorized charges without parental involvement.
Epic ignored over one million user complaints over being wrongfully charged, according to the FTC. Epic also allegedly locked accounts of players who disputed unauthorized charges with their credit card companies. This means they were blocked from using any content they had purchased. This will no longer be allowed.
Epic Games in its own blog post from December 2022 stated, "No developer creates a game with the intention of ending up here. The video game industry is a place of fast-moving innovation, where player expectations are high and new ideas are paramount. Statutes written decades ago don’t specify how gaming ecosystems should operate.
"The laws have not changed, but their application has evolved and long-standing industry practices are no longer enough. We accepted this agreement because we want Epic to be at the forefront of consumer protection and provide the best experience for our players."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
