Epic Games, the publisher of the famous game Fortnite, has just been fined $ 245 million. The reason? The Federal Trade Agency (FTC) in the United States has pointed to the design of its internal store that may have made involuntary purchases to some players, reports the specialized site Tech Crunch.
"Fortnite's counterintuitive, inconsistent and confusing button setup led players to incur unwanted charges by pressing a single button," said the FTC, which filed a lawsuit against Epic Games in December 2022. The fine imposed on the publisher will be used to reimburse players who have made in-app purchases in Fortnite unintentionally.
Epic Games will have to make changes
The Federal Trade Agency has also denounced the lack of parental controls for purchases made by underage players. Epic Games, both publisher and developer of the game, will therefore have to review the design of some parts of Fortnite and put an end to its "game design tricks".
Publisher must seek explicit consent prior to any in-app purchase and no longer lock the accounts of players who dispute fees charged for in-game purchases. Last December, Epic Games issued a statement assuring that changes had already been made to meet "the expectations of our players and regulators".
Who is entitled to a refund?
In detail, three user profiles can benefit from a refund: parents whose children made an unauthorized purchase by credit card, between January 2017 and November 2018; players who made unwanted purchases in V-Bucks between January 2017 and September 2022: and players who had their account locked after contesting, between January 2017 and September 2022.
- Tech
- Fortnite
- USA
- Video games
- Fine