The FTC said Epic employees had expressed concerns as early as 2017 about Fortnite’s default settings.Įpic said in a statement it had agreed to accept the FTC settlement because it wants “to be at the forefront of (user) protection and provide the best experience for our players.” The company said, “No developer creates a game with the intention of ending up here.”Įpic said it had already taken steps to improve the design of its payment system “to provide the largest amount of clarity” to players making purchase decisions. In some cases, children and teens were subjected to bullying and threatening behavior while playing Fortnite, the agency added. This action “harmed” children and teens, the FTC said. This violation could result in children and teens being connected online with strangers to play Fortnite together. In addition, the agency said Epic required “ unreasonable” methods for parents requesting that their children’s personal information be removed.Įpic also violated another FTC rule by turning on real-time voice and text communications for children and teenagers by default, the agency said. The FTC said its investigation found that Epic knew many children were playing Fortnite and that it collected personal information from them without getting parental permission. That rule sets requirements on operators of websites or online services directed at children under 13 years of age. The FTC said the data collection violated the agency’s Children’s Online Privacy Protections Rule, or COPPA. The privacy accusations involved the collection of personal information from children under age 13 who played Fortnite. Such methods led to “hundreds of millions of dollars in unauthorized charges” for users, the FTC said. Users could also be charged just by pressing buttons while trying to look at an object they might want to buy. The FTC said Epic’s use of such methods included misleading button designs that led players to unknowingly make purchases.įor example, players could be charged while trying to wake the game from a sleeping state or while the game was still loading. The FTC accused Epic Games of using so-called “dark pattern” methods “to trick players into making unwanted purchases.” Dark patterns are online tricks designed to get users to do something they might not have meant to do. But players can pay for some additional elements, such as costumes and dance moves. The FTC said in a news release that the game has more than 400 million players worldwide.įornite is free to download and play. The settlement requires Epic Games to pay a $275 million fine for collecting personal information on Fortnite players under the age of 13 without getting their permission or informing their parents.Īnother part of the agreement seeks $245 million to be paid to Fortnite users who the FTC says were tricked into making unwanted purchases while playing the game.Įpic Games released Fornite in 2017 and it has grown to become one of the most popular online video games. The FTC is a federal agency that seeks to protect the public from deceptive business methods and unfair competition. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced this week that it had reached an agreement with Epic Games to settle two cases against the company. A government agency that oversees trade accused Fortnite of illegally collecting children’s private information and carrying out misleading sales methods. The creator of video game Fortnite has agreed to pay a total of $520 million in government fines and repayments.
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