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Epic Games to Pay $520 Million in FTC Settlement

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Epic is settling allegations that they deliberately led Fortnite players toward paying real money.

While Epic Games’ Fortnite is primarily free-to-play, the game does employ a variety of microtransaction elements, including both its Battle Pass system and individual in-game store purchases. Due to the particular way these payment systems are formatted, Epic was slapped with allegations from the Federal Trade Commission for deliberately leading vulnerable players like children into spending real money.

To settle these allegations, Epic will be paying $275 million to the United States government as penalty for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Additionally, Epic will be paying $245 million in refunds to users that were impacted by Fortnite’s payment layout and interface by the FTC’s order.

“No developer creates a game with the intention of ending up here,” Epic said in a blog post on the matter. “We accepted this agreement because we want Epic to be at the forefront of consumer protection and provide the best experience for our players.”

“We share the underlying principles of fairness, transparency and privacy that the FTC enforces, and the practices referenced in the FTC’s complaints are not how Fortnite operates,” Epic wrote. “We will continue to be upfront about what players can expect when making purchases, ensure cancellations and refunds are simple, and build safeguards that help keep our ecosystem safe and fun for audiences of all ages.”

“Protecting the public, and especially children, from online privacy invasions and dark patterns is a top priority for the Commission, and these enforcement actions make clear to businesses that the FTC is cracking down on these unlawful practices,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement.

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