12/19/2022
Fortnite-maker Epic Games to pay $520 million over US child privacy allegations
Fortnite, Gears of War, and Unreal Engine developer Epic Games has been issued record-breaking fines by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to resolve complaints connected to microtransactions and child-protection guidelines in the immensely popular battle royale game.
“Epic will pay $245 million to refund consumers for its dark patterns and billing practices,” the Commission explains, “which is the FTC’s largest refund amount in a gaming case, and its largest administrative order in history.
The company has deployed a variety of dark patterns aimed at getting consumers of all ages to make unintended in-game purchases.
“We plan to fight this in court. We believe the evidence will show that this case is meritless.”
Parents can receive playtime reports that track the amount of time their child plays each week, and require parental permission before purchases are made,” the company said.
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