Fortnite players and other Epic Games customers deceived by the game’s creator into making unwanted purchases should receive refunds from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
As part of a settlement first announcement in December 2022, the video game maker was ordered by the FTC to pay $245 million to resolve allegations that it used illegal billing practices involving design tricks known as dark patterns to cause players to unintentionally rack up fees. This is the largest refund amount ever recorded in a gambling case, the agency said.
The FTC says it sent out more than 629,000 payments as of Monday, with more disbursements expected to come later. About half of the first tranche of payments will be made via PayPal, and the other half will be by check. Collectively, customers will receive $72 million in refunds, according to the agency.
How much money will each customer receive?
The average payment is about $114, the FTC said. Epic Games customers eligible for a refund selected their payment method when submitting a claim form. Customers who have opted in to receive PayPal payments have 30 days to collect the funds, while check recipients have 90 days to cash them.
What did Epic Games do?
The FTC alleges that the Fortnite maker used dark designs and various other tactics to trick customers into making unwanted purchases.
For example, a “counterintuitive, inconsistent and confusing button configuration” led Fortnite players to easily incur unwanted charges by pressing a single button, according to the FTC. Additionally, trying to switch the game from sleep to wake mode often triggered unwanted purchases. Other times, pressing an “adjacent button” while trying to preview an item resulted in a load.
“As our complaints note, Epic used privacy-infringing default settings and deceptive interfaces that deceived Fortnite users, including teens and children,” said FTC Chairwoman Lina Mr. Khan, in December 2022, when the settlement was first announced. “Protecting the public, and especially children, from online privacy violations and dark patterns is a top priority for the Commission, and these enforcement actions make it clear to businesses that the FTC is cracking down on these illegal practices.”
