The first round of payments from a $245 million settlement with the maker of Fortnite -- $72 million -- has started going out to people who the Federal Trade Commission said were tricked into making unintended in-game purchases. And it's not too late to file a claim if you're one of those affected.
In the settlement, finalized last year, the FTC concluded that Epic Games used design tricks known as dark patterns. "Fortnite's counterintuitive, inconsistent, and confusing button configuration led players to incur unwanted charges based on the press of a single button," the agency said in its March 2023 announcement.
Now the FTC says that 629,344 payments are going out to players who made those in-game purchases and who filed a valid claim by Oct. 8. On its website, the it says it is still reviewing claims made after Oct. 8 and will provide more information soon.
The average payout is about $114 per customer.
One CNET staffer got his PayPal deposit email (for $95.98) on Monday afternoon, a pleasant surprise since he had forgotten about the class action
The FTC is asking those who receive a payment via check to cash it within 90 days and those who got a PayPal payment to accept within 30 days.
You can still file a Fortnite claim. Here's how
The claims window is still open for those who received notification about the settlement but haven't filed yet. The window closes on Jan. 10, 2025, the deadline to file a claim for this settlement.
Those filing must be 18 or older; minors can ask a parent or guardian to complete the form on their behalf. A claim number and an Epic account ID are required.
According to the FTC, filing a claim will not affect a player's Fortnite account. For more information, see the FTC's Fortnite refunds FAQ.
The settlement applies to anyone who was charged for in-game currency for items they did not want to purchase between January 2017 and September 2022; if a child made credit card charges without a parent's knowledge between January 2017 and November 2018; or if an account was locked after a charge was disputed between January 2017 and September 2022.
Epic's Fortnite is wildly popular, especially with teens; in one game event last year, 44.7 million players participated on a single day. But the free-to-play game relies on players buying Battle Passes and other items with V-Bucks, the in-game currency. Like other games-as-platforms that have a large audience of young people, such as Roblox, Fortnite has evolved on how to make its game secure for young people and to ensure that payments aren't being generated without the player's authorization.
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