Fortnite – Epic Games has received a half billion dollar fine from the FTC

Image courtesy of Epic Games.

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Fortnite It is rarely mentioned in Context controversy About Micro payments. However, this game also seems to trick players into virtual shopping. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) imposed long Epic Games fined for practices intended to “fray millions of gamers for unintended expenses”.

In a post posted on The official website of the authority We read that on creators Fortnite Two financial obligations were imposed. Epic Games will pay a $275 million fine. for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and paying $245 million. In order to “scam users” who have made unwanted in-game purchases. All together, that’s $520 million.

Very easy spending in Fortnite

In the latter case, the problem turned out to be … the V control system Fortnite. According to the FTC, it’s counterintuitive, inconsistent, and configured in such a way that players make an in-game purchase with a single button.. Examples include attempts to wake the game from sleep on the loading screen or display an item.

Players have had too many opportunities to accidentally spend money in Fortnite. Source: Epic Games.

Thus, players were supposed to inadvertently spend “hundreds of millions of dollars” on in-game transactions. for this reason The FTC has placed an “administrative obligation” on Epic Games not to charge users without their confirmed consent.

The commission also claims that the company closed the accounts of clients who demanded refunds of money spent in this way. Even when Epic Games removed the ban, users were warned that further questioning the fee could result in a lifetime ban.

Fortnite did not protect children from toxicity

The penalty for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) — the highest in FTC history — has nothing to do with microtransactions. It turned out to be a problem The default privacy settings you made Fortnite It collected data from users under the age of 13 and allowed them to use the chat text and audio.

This was, of course, “risky” for young players. Anyone who has played with random people online knows very well how “positive” the statements of less cultured individuals can be.

The FTC indicates that Epic Games was aware of the young age of many players. Not only did the company frequently conduct surveys, but it also conducted official “licensed and advertised” games. Fortnite. Despite this, the publisher didn’t bother banning potentially “toxic” posts, nor did it require parents to consent to the collection of their children’s personal data.

with regard to The committee is calling for the deletion of data previously collected by Epic Games, the development of a new privacy protection program and the conduct of regular audits To confirm the company’s compliance with these orders.

Epic Games is already in the works

Epic Games also noted the FTC’s ruling, taking the first steps even before the official announcement. Dec 7th Co I entered The so-called limited accounts.

When you create it, you can provide the admin’s email address, which allows him to configure the settings himself Fortnite. Certain game features are blocked by default, including voice and text chats, and custom player names.

while in Posted today advertisement Epic Games has confirmed its acceptance of this settlement, He stressed that he is introducing changes to adapt to the rapidly changing gaming market, as well as in legal matters.

The company noticed it Fortnite It is not a game for young children. The ESRB has awarded him the category “Teen”, which means “from the age of 13”. Of course, young gamers can access content not intended for them — especially games — in the age of the ubiquitous Internet. Hence the introduction of limited accounts by Epic Games and – in September – the default “high privacy” setting.

Epic Games also ensures that in Fortnite There has never been a pay-to-win or pay-to-progress mechanic, And the game allows you to cancel the purchase of cosmetics for V dollars. Other features in the game related to privacy and microtransactions have also been taken care of.

There was no apology, but the company promised it would continue to inform players what to expect when making purchases, provide simple cancellations and refunds, and create safeguards to help its “ecosystem” stay safe and fun for fans of all ages.