Fortnite Players to Receive Refunds Following Epic Games’ FTC Settlement
Refunds Begin for Fortnite Players After FTC Ruling
More than 600,000 Fortnite players will soon start receiving refunds after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) found that Epic Games, the developer behind the widely popular game, “tricked” users into making unintended in-game purchases.
$72 Million in Refunds to Be Distributed
On Monday, the FTC announced that it is distributing over $72 million to affected U.S. players. The average refund amounts to approximately $114 per player, with additional payments expected in the future. This move follows the agency’s 2022 ruling against North Carolina-based Epic Games.
Epic Games Settles for $520 Million
Two years ago, Epic Games was ordered to pay a total of $520 million in settlements after the FTC accused the company of collecting personal data from minors without obtaining prior parental consent. While Epic did not admit wrongdoing, the company agreed to revamp its privacy policies, as well as modify its in-game chat and text functions and payment system to prevent unintended charges.
A spokesperson for Epic Games did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
FTC Highlights Flawed Payment System
According to the FTC, Fortnite’s complex and inconsistent button layout contributed to unintended purchases. “Fortnite’s counterintuitive, inconsistent, and confusing button configuration led players of all ages to incur unwanted charges based on the press of a single button,” the agency stated in its official release.
“For example, players could be charged while attempting to wake the game from sleep mode, while the game was in a loading screen, or by pressing an adjacent button while attempting simply to preview an item.”
Fortnite’s Growing Popularity
Since its launch in 2017, Fortnite has grown into one of the most popular battle royale games, allowing players to compete solo or in teams to be the last one standing. While Epic Games does not publicly release player statistics, data from Active Player, a gaming analytics website, suggests that the game currently boasts around 30 million daily active users.
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