Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, has agreed to settle an FTC investigation by paying $520 million.
Epic Games has been fined $520 million and will provide refunds to customers to settle complaints that it violated children's privacy rights and used deceptive techniques to encourage players to make in-game purchases, U.S. federal regulators announcedthe settlement on Monday.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced record settlements in two cases against Epic Games Inc., the creators of the popular video game Fortnite.
FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan said in a statement that Epic had adopted privacy-invading default settings and used deceptive interfaces to mislead Fortnite players , including teens and children.
See also: Fortnite: Returns to iPhones despite Epic's battle against Apple
Epic Games is refunding $245 million to its customers, who benefited from “dark patterns” and unfair billing practices.
Dark patterns are manipulative online methods that lure users into unexpected decisions, often to the benefit of third parties.
According to the FTC , Fortnite 's confusing and confusing key layout left players unknowingly incurring charges simply by pressing a key.
For example, players could be charged when trying to revive the game from sleep mode, while waiting for a loading screen that was in progress, or even simply by pressing a nearby button that was intended to preview an item.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, these techniques by Epic Games led to hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent charges for unsuspecting customers.
Epic Games said it is making a payment to end any concerns about the former Fortnite and refund systems. The FTC will be responsible for administering the funds “to Epic’s customers at their own discretion.”
Epic Games released a statement regarding the incident, expressing its acceptance of the decision while advocating for gaming practices that are more appropriate for today's environment. Continuing: "No game developer creates with the intention of ending up in this situation."
See also: Epic games: Hires thousands of employees for full-time employment
The company commented: “While many statutes were written decades ago, they fail to take into account how modern gaming ecosystems are supposed to operate. While the laws have remained in place, their enforcement has shifted and traditional industry practices are no longer sufficient.”
In the second case, Epic Games agreed to pay a hefty $275 million for collecting personal data from minors playing Fortnite without informing their parents or obtaining permission.
This is the largest penalty ever imposed for violating an FTC!
Source: edition.cnn.com
