Epic Games Has Been Fined Close To $800 Million Over Fortnite Privacy Violations And Unwanted Charges

The US Federal Trade Commission and Epic Games have come to an agreement wherein Epic Games will pay fines equalling roughly $770 million over allegations of privacy violations and unwanted charges in relation to the massively-popular battle royale game Fortnite.

As stated in the FTC press release, the huge fine consists of two separate settlements, both relating to Fortnite. The first settlement speaks to an alleged violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), resulting in a fine of $410 million and a requirement that Epic will “adopt strong privacy default settings for children and teens, ensuring that voice and text communications are turned off by default.” This is the single largest penalty that has been handed out for a breach of FTC rules.

The violation of the COPPA rule derives from Epic “collecting personal information from children under 13 who played Fortnite, a child-directed online service, without notifying their parents or obtaining their parent’s verifiable consent.” The other major violation states that young people are endangered by “settings [that] enable live on-by-default text and voice communications for users.”

The second settlement will see Epic refund roughly $365 million to players subject to unwanted charges due to “dark patterns and billing practices” implemented by Epic. As with the first settlement, this is the largest refund amount in a gaming case in FTC history. The dark practices in question relate to predatory menus and configurations that are implemented to “trick players into making unwanted purchases and let children rack up unauthorized charges without any parental involvement.”

While Epic Games has agreed to pay both fines, the gaming giant has shown displeasure with the result. From the Epic website, this statement was given in response to the FTC settlements:

“No developer creates a game with the intention of ending up here. The video game industry is a place of fast-moving innovation, where player expectations are high and new ideas are paramount. Statutes written decades ago don’t specify how gaming ecosystems should operate. The laws have not changed, but their application has evolved and long-standing industry practices are no longer enough. We accepted this agreement because we want Epic to be at the forefront of consumer protection and provide the best experience for our players. ”

The statement is followed by a list of payment and security features found within the Epic ecosystem that should meet the “expectations of our players and regulators”. These features include:

• No pay-to-win or pay-to-progress mechanics in player-versus-player experiences.
• No paid random item loot boxes since 2019 and no gambling ever.
• A Return Tickets system that enables self-service refunds on eligible digital goods without the need to specify a reason.
• Instant cancellations of cosmetic purchases made with V-bucks, with a recently extended cancellation window.
• A hold-to-purchase mechanic for all in-game purchases in Fortnite.
• An updated chargeback policy.
• An explicit yes/no choice to save payment information.
• Parental Controls that are easily accessible in the main Fortnite Lobby menu and the Epic Account portal.
• Parental Controls that include the option to require a PIN to send and accept friend requests and enable parents to authorize purchases before they are made.
• A daily spending limit for players under the age of 13.
• Granular privacy options for chat, which include “Everybody,” “Friends and Teammates,” “Friends Only,” or “Nobody.”
• Cabined Accounts that provide a tailored experience that is safe and inclusive for younger players while they wait for parental consent.
• Settings that default to the highest privacy option for players under the age of 18, including voice and text chat defaulting to “Nobody.”

Yeah, so it’s safe to say that Epic isn’t too pleased with the entire situation.

What do you think of the FTC vs Epic situation? Do you have an issue with the practices found within Fortnite? Let us know in the comments or on our social media.