A previous complaint from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) aimed at Fortnite developer Epic Games has now led to the company reaching a settlement that eclipses half a billion dollars. While Epic Games has been under fire for a number of various reasons over the years, this situation with the FTC involving player privacy has been one of the most severe. Rather than have the federal government step in to bring the hammer down in an even larger way, those at Epic have now decided to reach a costly settlement instead.ย
In total, Epic will now have to pay $520M as a result of this battle with the FTC. This amount of money is comprised of two separate charges, the first of which is for $275M and is associated with the aforementioned privacy concerns, specifically in regard to children. By proxy ofย Fortnite, Epic was found to have collected personal information that belonged to children under the age of 13 without consent from their parents or guardians. Furthermore, the FTC found that Fortnite previously had in-game chat options turned on by default, which also violates the privacy of younger players. Epic has since rolled addressed this via past updates to its battle royale title.ย
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The second amount, which sits at $245M, is then tied to problems withย Fortnite’s in-game shop and the way in which it previously functioned. Due to confusing prompts within Fortnite and charges that were made against the willingness of some players, the FTC complained that the game’s shop led to unwanted purchases that couldn’t be undone. As a result, this $245M will be used to provide refunds to some Fortnite players.ย
“No developer creates a game with the intention of ending up here,” Epic said in a response on its websiteย today. “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. Over the past few years, we’ve been making changes to ensure our ecosystem meets the expectations of our players and regulators, which we hope will be a helpful guide for others in our industry.”
Are you shocked to see how much money Epic is having to pay as a result of this back-and-forth with the FTC? Let me know either down in the comments or hit me up on Twitter at @MooreMan12.ย
