Epic Games – Deceptive marketing practices: $72 million returned to Fortnite players

Two years ago, the Federal Trade Commission American imposed a penalty of $245 million on Epic Games for its deceptive commercial practices. The injured players are starting to be compensated.

We remember that in 2022, the Federal Trade Commission American (FTC) imposed a penalty of $520 million on Epic Games. The video game giant was first accused of not having respected the privacy of its young players (which earned it a fine of $275 million) and then of having implemented deceptive commercial practices in Fortnite – of the ” dark patterns » which encouraged players to validate purchases in the online game store, without them realizing it, without wanting to or without the explicit agreement of their parents for minor players. In response, the FTC imposed a second penalty on Epic Gamesthis time in the amount of 245 million dollars.

And these 245 million dollars were intended to reimburse injured players – those who had validated purchases in Fortnite without wanting to, as well as players who had requested reimbursement from Epic Games teams and who, in return, had been banned from Fortnite without obtaining satisfaction.

$72 million returned to 629,344 American players

Two years later, the FTC announced that it had started issuing these refunds. Some $72 million has already been returned to 629,344 American players (by check or via PayPal), whose complaints were deemed admissible by the FTC – an average of more than $115 per file.

A second wave of reimbursements is expected in the coming months (presumably to distribute the remaining 173 million). Players who feel concerned can still make themselves known to the FTC until January 10 (in the event of involuntary purchases and/or banning for complaining between 2017 and 2022, or for purchases by minor players without parental consent between 2017 and 2018): the files will be studied by the American government agency and compensation will be paid depending on the damage and the total number of complaints validated – note that the FTC is only competent to study disputes from American players, at this stage, players from the rest of the world are not eligible.

Beyond the procedure itself, we remember that the FTC sanctions had their small effect on Epic Games. The American giant had modified its commercial practices, improved the transparency of purchases and gradually disappeared the loot boxes from Fortnite. The group had also corrected its parental control systems to better supervise the practices of young players.