Despite the recent release of Fortnite Season 2, Epic Games faces a disappointment: a record fine for its practices.
Given the ever-growing success of Fortnite, which has just released its Chapter 4 Season 2, you would think that all is well at Epic Games. And yet, a recent court decision could well tarnish this idyllic picture for the American giant. In effect, Epic Games will soon have to pay a record fine of more than $245 million for its insidious monetary practices on Fortnite, especially in front of a young audience.
Record $245 million fine for Epic Games Fortnite practices
The sentence has just fallen. The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has just finalized a $245 million fine against Epic Gamesas punishment for shady practices intended to encourage players to make unwanted purchases and allow children to accrue charges without parental consent“. According to the FTC, Fortnite implements unclear and confusing payment settings, with one-click purchases considered abusive.
Additionally, the FTC criticizes Epic Games for having implemented a system allowing children to easily purchase content in Fortnite without parental consent. The result is this fine, which comes with a series of changes imposed on Epic Games. From here onwards, Epic Games can no longer ban the account of players who open complaints against unauthorized payments. Players who will be eligible for refunds are parents whose children made unauthorized credit card purchases between January 2017 and November 2018. The same goes for players who used V-Bucks for cosmetic items including they did not want. not between January 2017 and September 2022. Finally, players whose account was blocked following a refund request between January 2017 and September 2022 will also be entitled to a refund.