FTC Issues Refunds to Fortnite Players Following Epic Games Settlement
The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has commenced the distribution of refunds to consumers affected by Epic Games' practices in Fortnite, which resulted in unwanted purchases of in-game items such as perks and emotes.
Key Details of the Refund Process:
Total Refunds: The FTC is sending refunds to 629,344 impacted users.
Payment Methods: Half of the refunds will be issued via checks, while the other half will be sent through PayPal transfers.
Average Refund Amount: Each affected user will receive an average payment of approximately $114.
This initial batch of refunds is part of a settlement reached in December 2022, where the FTC charged Epic Games with using deceptive tactics to encourage unwanted purchases of virtual currency in Fortnite. As a result of these practices, Epic Games was fined $245 million, which the FTC is now utilizing to issue these refunds.
Additional Violations:
This settlement is not the only issue Epic Games has faced. The company was also charged with violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). This violation involved collecting information from children under the age of 13 without obtaining verifiable parental consent, complicating the process for parents wishing to delete their children's data. This infraction resulted in an additional fine of 275million, bringing the total penalties against Epic Games to 520 million.
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