Fortnite maker Epic to pay $520 million to settle FTC allegations

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Epic Games, the maker of the popular Fortnite game, has agreed to pay $520 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the company violated children’s online privacy laws and tricked players into making purchases involuntary.

As part of the settlement, Epic will pay a $275 million fine for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and $245 million in refunds to players allegedly tricked into making purchases through design tricks known as dark patterns.

Epic confirmed the settlement in a press release Monday morning, saying longstanding industry practices are no longer sufficient in a rapidly changing law enforcement environment.

No developer makes a game with the intention of ending up here, the company said in the statement. We agreed to this agreement because we want Epic to be at the forefront of consumer protection and provide the best experience for our players.

Additionally, the company will need to adopt stronger default privacy settings for children and teens that ensure voice and text communications are turned off by default.

Fortnite, a cartoon-like shooter, is one of the most popular online games, with over 400 million users worldwide.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Cat Zakrzewski contributed to this report.

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