$72 million will be reimbursed. Fortnite players will receive monetary compensation for being tricked into making unwanted in-game purchases
Epic Games cheated its players.
Epic Games cheated its players.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has begun paying compensation to more than 629,000 Epic Games users who were misled and made unwanted purchases in the Fortnite game interface, writes CBS News.
The first tranche of payments will amount to $72 million, which is part of a record $245 million fine for the gaming industry. About half of the funds will be transferred via PayPal, and the rest will be transferred by check. The average payout is about $114.
It's part of a settlement reached in December 2022 that ordered Epic to pay more than half a billion dollars to settle FTC allegations.
These include $275 million for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act and $245 million for a design that used "dark templates" to trick millions of players into making unintended purchases. The FTC began notifying consumers eligible for refunds as early as September 2023, which is more than 37 million people.
The regulator has accused the Fortnite developer of using so-called "dark patterns" and other techniques to trick users into making unwanted purchases.
The "illogical, confusing and confusing button layout" meant that players could inadvertently spend money with a single click. Also, when the game went from sleep mode to active mode, it often caused random purchases. In other cases, clicking the adjacent button while browsing the product could result in a charge.
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