The American regulator FTC will pay $ 126 million to Fortnite players who have made unwanted purchases in the game. Nearly a million users are taken into account, which represents some $ 130 per person, or about 111 euros.
Refunds are part of a wider arrangement concluded with the developer Epic Games, which was accused by the FTC of using known deceived concept choices under the name Dark Patterns.
These include confusing purchasing buttons, deceptive offers and uninformed activated transactions, for example when the game is starting or visualizing items in the game.
Children, main victims
The children were particularly affected because they could make purchases without the consent of their parents. According to the FTC, anyone wishing to contest this kind of unlined payment has so far faced a tedious complaint procedure. In some cases, the accounts were even blocked before a solution was found.
The arrangement taken with Epic Games, announced at the end of 2022, amounts to 520 million dollars. A first phase of reimbursements took place in December 2024.
Players or their parents who have made unwanted payments between January 2017 and September 2022, can still file a refund request via the official FTC portal until July 9, 2025.
