Last week, U.S. regulator the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent over $126 million in refunds to Fortnite players who were charged for unwanted in-game items.
The compensation was dished out following a 2023 settlement between the FTC and Fortnite developer Epic Games.
The FTC had claimed Epic used “dark patterns” to trick players into making unwanted purchases. It also accused the company of letting minors accumulate unauthorized charges without parental oversight.
“Fortnite’s counterintuitive, inconsistent, and confusing button configuration led players to incur unwanted charges based on the press of a single button. The company also made it easy for children to make purchases while playing Fortnite without requiring any parental consent,” wrote the FTC in a complaint filed in 2022.
FTC lambasts Epic for “deceptive billing practices”
Epic said it never intended to mislead players but agreed to pay $245 million in compensation to settle the matter.
As a result, the FTC has now issued two rounds of refunds. The first was sent out in December 2024 and comprised 629,344 payments totalling more than $72 million. The latest round includes 969,173 cheques and PayPal payments issued on June 25 and June 26 to consumers who filed a claim.
“Today’s announcement brings the total amount of refunds the FTC has issued to consumers related to Epic’s deceptive billing practices to nearly $200 million,” reads an FTC statement.
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Eligible consumers who have yet to submit a claim will have until July 9, 2025, to do so via the FTC website.