FTC Sends Refund Payments to Consumers Impacted by Epic Games’ Unlawful Billing Practices in Fortnite
The Federal Trade Commission is sending refunds totaling more than $72 million to consumers who were tricked by Epic Games, maker of the popular video game Fortnite, into making unwanted purchases.
As part of a settlement first announced in December 2022, the FTC obtained an order requiring Epic Games to pay $245 million to resolve allegations that the game maker used design tactics known as dark patterns to trick players into making unwanted purchases, let children rack up unauthorized charges without any parental involvement, and blocked some users who disputed unauthorized charges from accessing their purchased content. The FTC alleged that Fortnite’s counterintuitive, inconsistent, and confusing button configuration led players of all ages to incur unwanted charges based on the press of a single button. For example, players could be charged while attempting to wake the game from sleep mode, while the game was in a loading screen, or by pressing an adjacent button while attempting simply to preview an item.
The FTC is sending its first round of payments in this matter and will distribute additional money at a later date. Today, the FTC is sending 629,344 total payments, about half of which are PayPal payments and the other half are checks.Consumers selected their payment method when they completed their claim form. Recipients should redeem their PayPal payment within 30 days and cash their checks within 90 days, as indicated on the check. The average payment is about $114.
Consumers who have questions about their payment should contact the refund administrator, Rust Consulting, Inc., at 1-833-915-0880 or by email at admin@fortniterefund.com, or visit the FTC website to view frequently asked questions about the refund process. The Commission never requires people to pay money or provide account information to get a refund.
Eligible consumers can still submit a claim online. The claim form is available at www.ftc.gov/fortnite.
