- Over 600,000 Fortnite players are receiving refunds after FTC’s settlement
- Refunds stem from FTC’s privacy violations case against Epic Games
- Players who missed the deadline still have until January 10, 2025, to claim.
Fortnite players, rejoice! The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has started sending refunds to over 600,000 gamers who were unfairly charged for unwanted in-game items.
FTC Takes Action for Fair Treatment
Fortnite’s developer, Epic Games faced allegations, that FTC accused them of privacy violations and “dark patterns” that appeared to be perplexing and tricked players into spending unintentional money.
Not only adults but also children accidentally purchased items without their parents’ consent. Moreover, They didn’t protect the privacy of kids under 13 properly.
On top of that, players who tried to dispute charges reportedly faced account locks, adding to their frustration. This incident resulted in outrage from the community now this refunding has been introduced after the 2022 settlement of $520 million, which happened when FTC stepped in. FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said,
“As our complaints note, Epic used privacy-invasive default settings and deceptive interfaces that tricked Fortnite users, including teenagers and children,”
Out of the mentioned amount, $275 million was paid as a penalty for violating children’s online privacy laws, and the remaining $245 million was set aside to refund players. Each person will get about $114 on average.
How to Claim Your Refund
Now moving to the process of how you can claim your hard-earned money back, those who reported the issue before 8 October 2024 will get the refund soon. Payments are sent via checks or PayPal.
Those who receive checks can cash it within 90 days, while in the case of PayPal, it is required to accept a refund within 30 days.
If you submitted a valid claim before October 8, 2024, your refund is on its way. Payments are being sent through checks or PayPal, depending on your choice. Here’s the deal:
- Checks must be cashed within 90 days.
- PayPal refunds must be accepted within 30 days.
For players who missed the first deadline, don’t stress out, there is still time until January 10, 2025, to file for a cash return. FTC has also alerted players regarding scams and in case of receiving any fraudulent message they can report it to: ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Now fans are pleased with the fact that Fortnite has accepted past mistakes and is repairing the damages, highlighting that fairness matters in everything.
