Epic Games is being penalised $520 million by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for allegedly deceiving Fortnite gamers into making unauthorised transactions.
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The FTC declared on Monday that Epic Games would pay $275 million in fines for "violating children's privacy law" and another $245 million
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in refunds for "tricking consumers into making unnecessary purchases" in Fortnite's in-game store.
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The FTC Chair, Lina M. Khan, stated that "as our complaints reflect, Epic used privacy-invasive default settings and misleading interfaces that deceived Fortnite users,
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including teenagers and children." "Protecting the public, and especially minors, from online privacy intrusions and dark patterns is a key concern for the Commission,
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and these enforcement actions make clear to businesses that the FTC is cracking down on these illegal practises," the commission stated.
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In addition to alleging that Epic Games restricts access to "thousands of dollars' worth" of content on a player's account if they dispute unauthorised credit card charges,
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the FTC claim mentions "Fortnite's counterintuitive, inconsistent, and confusing button configuration," which causes unintended purchases.
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