Fortnite receives a fine for deceiving users Grupo Milenio

A hard blow is the one that has received Fortnite since it has been reported that the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has fined to the game developer, Epic Games, with over 200 million dollars.

This blow comes because the company supposedly allows children “rack up unauthorized charges without any parental involvement”.

The order was finalized this Tuesday, March 14 and establishes that Epic Games must pay the fine due to the “dark patterns” that allegedly tricked players into making unwanted game purchases.

The FTC claimed that Epic used design tricks to make players “of all ages” made inadvertent in-game purchases with real moneywith a “counter-intuitive, inconsistent, and confusing button layout” that led to unwanted purchases.

In addition, the government body alleged that Epic Games made it easy for kids to make in-game purchases without asking their parents for permissionand retaliated against customers who disputed the unauthorized charges by blocking their accounts.

In addition to this fine totaling $245 million, the order will prohibit Epic Games from continuing to use these practices and will stop allowing players to make purchases without consent.

The FTC mentioned that the money will be used to reimburse affected customers. According to this page, anyone who has purchased unwanted in-game items, had their accounts locked for disputing unauthorized charges, or children using their credit card to make similar unauthorized purchases can request a refund.

Currently, Epic Games’ fines from the FTC stand at more than half a billion dollars, as the company has already agreed to pay $275 million for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

DAG