Epic Games is in hot water. Again.
We’ve seen Epic Games go through lawsuits and charges in recent years. Chances are, even you know about the kerfuffle between them and Apple during their almost year-long stint in the court. Now, it looks like Fortnite’s makers are in trouble once more. The Federal State Commission—or FTC, for short—announced this December that they’re fining Epic Games with a $520 million settlement over charges to children’s privacy.
The $520 million is a combination of the two things. The amount that centers around violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (1998) is $275 million. In addition, the FTC also fined Epic Games $245 million to refund customers duped by the battle royale’s design trickery to make unintentional purchases in the Fortnite Item Shop. The refunds are the largest the Federal State Commission has ever secured in a video game-related case.
A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
When Epic Games initially released Fortnite five years ago at this point, the battle royale quickly became a blockbuster hit among millions of kids and teenage players. Of course, that’s not to say that the older demographic isn’t playing the game—they are, but it’s just that the audience of Fortnite is mainly underaged people. It’s relatively easy to sign up for a Fortnite account and start playing Fortnite even now. Talking or chatting with strangers as you jump off the Battle Bus has become the norm for many gamers.
Fortnite is indeed a cultural sensation, but that doesn’t mean it can’t have the same trappings—if not worse—than the other free-to-play games available in the current market. Children can quickly rack up hundreds of dollars using their parents’ credit cards to buy digital items from the Fortnite Item Shop, like skins for their game characters. Those in-game purchases and physical merchandise like action figures made Fortnite a money-making machine for Epic Games. Currently, Fortnite has accrued more than 400 million users worldwide. It’s safe to say that while Fortnite may seem colorful and fun on the outside, it hides predatory tactics to ensure that Epic can keep on cashing in.
Concerns for Safety, Mental Health, and Privacy
The Federal State Commission acted upon Fortnite’s violation when there was a heightened public concern over the privacy, mental health, and safety risks that some online multiplayer video games pose to the underaged demographic. Earlier this month, the FTC moved to stop consolidation among the video game makers and filed a lawsuit to obstruct Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. These crackdowns indicate that the agency is following through on the pledges made by its chair, Lina M. Khan, to take a strong stand towards regulating the technology industry.
The Violation
According to the FTC, Epic Games allegedly violated COPPA using a slew of different practices. These range from using default settings that match children with strangers (which often results in cyberbullying, sexual coercion, and harassment) to gathering the personal information of these kids without a parent’s consent. Parents also commented that deleting their children’s personal information wasn’t easy either. At times, Epic failed to honor their requests, and they had to break their backs just to see through the whole process.
A Trickery is Afoot
As for the refunds, it stems from a complaint concerning the use of “dark patterns.” These ” patterns ” tricked players into making unintentional purchases in the game’s online store. FTC stated that Fortnite’s button configurations when navigating through the in-game store and menus are confusing and inconsistent. These factors led players to incur charges; by pressing a single button, they can kiss their money goodbye. Using these tactics, Epic Games was able to sweep hundreds of millions of dollars under their corporate rug—by making unauthorized charges for their consumers.
Epic’s Side of the Story
Epic stated that the statutes written decades ago do not specify how gaming ecosystems can or cannot operate. Considering that the laws have yet to change, how they can be applied has evolved since the long-standing practices are no longer sufficient. Epic Games has accepted the agreement not because they agree with the claims that the FTC has dug up but because they want to be “the vanguard of consumer protection” and provide the best experience for their millions of players. Regarding the refunds, Epic said they’ll strive to be upfront about what gamers can expect when making purchases in the Fortnite Item Shop and ensure that refunds and cancellations will be made simple.
A Load of Bull?
We’ll leave the matter of Epic’s words up to the public’s speculation as to whether it’s a load of bull or not. But we know that if the public didn’t escalate these concerns to the top brass of the FTC, Epic would have never done anything. Despite making changes in the past year, including being able to return digital cosmetic items from the Fortnite Item Shop for a refund, there were still a lot of problems they didn’t address until now. If anything else, Epic Games would have probably continued to use those practices as long as they won’t get caught.