Fortnite's in-game purchases and privacy violations lead to massive fines

Fortnite's in-game purchases and privacy violations lead to massive fines

Regulatory concerns

Fortnite, one of the world's most played video games, finds itself in the middle of a significant regulatory crackdown.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has accused Fortnite of misleading players into making unintended in-game purchases. Additionally, the game is alleged to have breached players' privacy.

Settlement

Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, has agreed to a staggering settlement of $520 million.

A significant portion of the settlement, $275 million, is a fine for Fortnite's methods of collecting data, particularly from players under the age of 13, without parental consent. 

This fine is the largest ever imposed by the FTC.

Compensation for parents

The FTC is actively reaching out to 37 million people to inform them about the compensation available.

$245 million of the settlement will be used to refund parents in the US for unauthorized purchases made in 2022.

Epic Games has also publicly committed to refunding UK parents if their children made purchases without their awareness.