Parents are now able to apply for refunds for in-app purchases made on the popular video game Fortnite without their permission.
To facilitate this process, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched a dedicated portal for Fortnite claims.
In an effort to inform potentially impacted individuals, the FTC has begun contacting over 37 million people via email, notifying them of their eligibility for compensation. This outreach will continue for the next month.
Individuals seeking a refund must be at least 18 years old. The deadline to submit a refund claim is January 17, 2024.
These refunds come as a result of a landmark settlement reached in March, following an accusation by the FTC that Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, engaged in deceptive practices to trick users into making unwanted purchases. As part of the settlement, Epic Games has agreed to pay a penalty of $245 million, with the intention of using these funds to provide refunds to affected customers.
In a separate settlement relating to allegations of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, Epic Games has agreed to pay an additional penalty of $275 million. This brings the total penalties paid by Epic Games to $520 million.
According to the FTC, Epic Games employed various deceptive practices to target users of all ages and encourage children to make unintended purchases without parental consent. The FTC also accused Epic Games of retaliating against customers who reported wrongful charges to their credit card companies by locking their accounts.
The FTC specifically highlighted Fortnite’s counterintuitive button configuration, which often led players to incur unwanted charges with a single press of a button. This tactic, known as a “dark pattern,” was a central element in the alleged deceptive practices used by Epic Games.
There are multiple scenarios in which customers may be eligible for a refund. These include being charged for unwanted items with “in-game currency” between January 2017 and September 2022, unauthorized charges made by children to a credit card between January 2017 and November 2018 without parental knowledge, or experiencing an account lock between January 2017 and September 2022 after reporting charges to the credit card company.
Fortnite, launched in September 2017, swiftly gained global popularity. In its first 10 months alone, the game generated a staggering $1.8 billion in revenue, reaching a total of $2.4 billion by the end of 2018.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Denial of responsibility! Vigour Times is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
