The US will pay $72 million in compensation to victims of “dark schemes” of the Fortnite game

Author:
Olha Bereziuk
Date:

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has begun the process of reimbursing consumers who were harmed by Epic Gamesʼ "dark patterning" tactics that led to unwanted purchases.

Games Industry writes about it.

FTC said more than $72 million will be reimbursed, with an average payment of about $114.

The organization said it is currently sending the first batch of 629,344 payments (half of which are checks and the other half are PayPal payments) and the rest of the payments will be sent later.

Itʼs part of a settlement reached in December 2022 that ordered Epic to pay more than half a billion dollars to settle the FTC allegations.

These include $275 million for violating the Childrenʼs Online Privacy Protection Act and $245 million for a design that used "dark templates" to trick millions of players into making unintended purchases.

FTC began notifying eligible consumers as early as September 2023, which is more than 37 million people.

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