Fortnite players can collect additional $ 126 million reimbursement after being “deceived” in unwanted purchases – here is how
The Federal Trade Commission American sends the last series of reimbursements to consumers who, according to them, were “deceived” in purchases that they did not want Fortnite Maker Epic Games – and the eligible players who have not yet been paid still have time to apply.
In an announcement this week, the FTC said that it distributed more than 969,000 reimbursements totaling more than $ 126 million to consumers on Wednesday and Thursday. This follows the regulator’s first payment cycle amounting to more than $ 72 million, which was released in December 2024.
Refunds are part of a regulation of $ 520 million that Epic agreed to reimburse in 2022 – to resolve complaints revolving around the confidentiality and payment methods of children on its popular Fortnite video game. At the time, the FTC allegedly alleged that the game giant used deceptive online design tactics to deceive Fortnite players, including children, to make involuntary purchases “based on the press of a single button”.
Consumers could be billed while doing something as simple as trying the wake of the standby mode game, for example, or by pressing a neighboring button when you try to preview an article, the agency said. The FTC also accused EPIC of blocking certain users who have challenged the costs of accessing the content they bought.
Beyond a fine of $ 275 million linked to the collection of personal information for players under the age of 13, the regulations, which was finalized in 2023, included $ 245 million in customer reimbursements. Between the payments in December and the reimbursements sent this week, around 198 million dollars were sent – leaving around $ 47 million to distribution.
The latest reimbursements are distributed to consumers who have filed a valid complaint before February 14 – which means that any complaint made after this date is still being examined, according to the FTC.
And the FTC also says that it reopens the complaint process. Eligible consumers who have not yet been compensated have further compensated before July 9 to file a complaint.
If it is accepted, reimbursements are in the form of checks or paypal payments. To apply and learn more about the regulations, users must visit the FTC website. People who are eligible for these payments include Fortnite players who have been billed in games at stake for the articles they did not want or saw their account locked after complaining about a credit card of unjustified costs between January 2017 and September 2022 – as well as parents whose children paid on their credit cards to their knowledge from January 2018 to November 2018.
The Associated Press contacted Epic to comment on Thursday. As the regulations were announced in December 2022, Epic said that he had accepted the agreement because he wanted to “be at the forefront of consumer protection and offer the best experience to our players”. The company based in Cary, in North Carolina, added that it already deployed changes “to ensure that our ecosystem meets the expectations of our players and regulators, which, we hope, will be a useful guide for others in our industry.”
