Fortnite developer ordered to pay $245 million to players tricked into making "unwanted" purchases

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The sum has been finalised three months after the FTC complaint was announced

Peely from Fortnite with Xs for eyes
(Image credit: Epic Games)

Epic Games has been ordered to pay $245 million to Fortnite players after using "dark patterns" to trick them into making unintentional purchases and letting children do so without involvement from a parent. 

That comes from the United States Federal Trade Commission, which announced the penalty sum has been finalised following the complaint's initial announcement last December. 

The FTC accused Epic of using design tricks to lull players of all ages into making unintended in-game purchases. 

"Fortnite's counterintuitive, inconsistent, and confusing button configuration led players to incur unwanted charges based on the press of a single button," an FTC press release reads. "The company also made it easy for children to make purchases while playing Fortnite without requiring any parental consent."

"The order also prohibits Epic from charging consumers through the use of dark patterns or from otherwise charging consumers without obtaining their affirmative consent," the press release continues. "Additionally, the order bars Epic from blocking consumers from accessing their accounts for disputing unauthorised charges."

Iain Harris
Iain Harris
News Editor, Games

I joined GamesRadar+ in May 2022 following stints at PCGamesN and PocketGamer.Biz, with some freelance for Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, and VG24/7 thrown in for good measure. When I'm not running the news team on the games side, you'll find me putting News Editor duties to one side to play the hottest JRPG of 20 years ago or pillaging the depths of Final Fantasy 14 for a swanky new cloak – the more colourful, the better.