First Fortnite refunds on the way for misleading payment tactics by Cary’s Epic Games
Nearly 630,000 consumers are receiving refunds from the Federal Trade Commission, two years after the agency charged Cary video game maker Epic Games a record sum for using deceptive payment tactics in the popular game Fortnite.
These payouts are part of a $72 million pool the government plans to return to Fortnite players and parents harmed by misleading procedures that elicited purchases in the kid-friendly game.
“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 FTC said in a statement Monday. “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.”
The average refund so far has been $114. The government will continue to accept online claims through at least Jan. 10. The FTC intends to issue additional refunds via check or Paypal at a later, unspecified date.
In December 2022, Epic agreed to pay $245 million to settle the FTC charge. It was the agency’s biggest refund for a gaming case and its most substantial administrative order in history.
Epic also agreed at the time to pay $275 million to the FTC for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). FTC Chair Lina Khan accused Epic of maintaining “privacy-invasive default settings and deceptive interfaces that tricked Fortnite users, including teenagers and children.”
Following the FTC’s announced settlement, Epic Games did not acknowledge any wrongdoing but said the company “accepted this agreement because we want Epic to be at the forefront of consumer protection and provide the best experience for our players.”
“No developer creates a game with the intention of ending up here,” a company spokesperson said in 2022.
Released in 2017, Fortnite has been the most successful title for Epic Games and one of best-performing video games ever. It is a bloodless first-person shooter game set in a brightly animated island world. The objective of its most famous Battle Royale mode features 100 players duking it out against one another until one winner is left.
It attracts tens of millions of active players each month.
Who is eligible to file for a refund?
The Federal Trade Commission says those who meet any of the below criteria could be eligible for a refund from the Fortnite settlement:
- If you were charged in-game currency for items you didn’t want between January 2017 and September 2022.
- Your child made charges to your credit card without your knowledge between January 2017 and November 2018.
- Your account was locked between January 2017 and September 2022 after you complained to your credit card company about wrongful charges.
Customers must be at least 18 to complete a claim form. Parents or guardians can complete the form for those under the required age.
How to apply for a refund from Epic Games
The FTC says customers should apply online at: https://www.fortniterefund.com/File-a-Claim.
Customers will need a claim number or Epic Account ID to apply. The FTC warns customers against scams, saying it will never ask for money in exchange for a refund.
This story was originally published December 9, 2024 at 5:53 PM with the headline "First Fortnite refunds on the way for misleading payment tactics by Cary’s Epic Games."
