Back in 2022Epic Games agreed to pay $245 million as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over “dark patterns” that may have tricked players into spending in-game money on cosmetics, dance moods, and other things they didn't do. really want. Two years later, the first payments are finally coming out and some players are getting checks for over $100 as a result.
The management state moves slowly, and regardless of players submitted applications a year ago to be part of the settlement, payments did not start going out until recently. “The FTC is putting the first round of payments into this case and will release additional funds at a later date,” the agency said. announced this week. “Today, the FTC is sending a total of 629,344 payments, with about half of those being PayPal payments and the other half being checks. ”
Do I deserve it? Fortnite refund?
While people started filing claims months ago, anyone affected by the settlement still has until January 10, 2025 to request a refund. To be eligible for the payout, players must meet one of the following criteria:
- You were charged in-game money for unwanted items between January 2017 and September 2022
- Your child added 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 incorrect charges
Anyone affected just needs to submit a claim on the FTC's website. You can choose to receive the refund as a check in the mail or via PayPal. The total amount you receive will depend on how many other people file claims. The FTC currently expects the average payout to be about $114 per person, or the equivalent of about six Fortnite skin
Why did this happen?
The $245 million settlement came amid a regulatory crackdown on how FortniteThe in-game store works and the way it tracks data relating to children. When it comes to the store, which sells everything from Rollie dances to custom Godzilla clothing, the FTC concluded that Epic Games used “dark patterns to trick players into making purchases without ask for
This included making it too easy to accidentally buy skins while previewing them and making it too difficult to find the refund button while the purchases were still eligible for the conversion. The FTC also said that some players who successfully received refunds would then be banned for fraudulent behavior.
Read More: seven years ago, Fortnite It's a Better Game Than Ever
In addition to the settlement, the FTC asked Epic to stop “charging consumers through the use of dark patterns or from charging consumers without 'obtaining their affirmative consent', as well as 'preventing users from accessing their accounts to dispute unauthorized charges.'
The FTC announced this week that it expects the next round of settlement refunds to go out to affected players sometime in 2025 after it can handle the current claims to verify all. It comes several years late, but just in time for fans to be hurt Fortniteand an ever-increasing amount of money and combat pass prices.
.
