Back to 2022Epic Games agreed to pay $245 million as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over “dark modes” that could trick players into spending in-game currency on cosmetics, dance emotes and other items they don’t like I actually want to. Two years later, the first payments finally went out, resulting in some players receiving checks for more than $100.
Regulatory state moves slowly, although players Claim filed a year ago Payments only recently began being issued as part of the settlement. “The FTC is sending the first round of payments on this matter and will distribute additional funds at a later date,” the agency said. announced this week. “Today, the FTC sent a total of 629,344 payments, approximately half of which were PayPal payments and the other half were checks.”
am i eligible for fort night Refund?
Although people started filing claims months ago, anyone affected by the settlement can still apply for a refund until January 10, 2025. To be eligible for payment, players must meet one of the following conditions:
- Between January 2017 and September 2022, you were charged for in-game currency for items you did not want
- Between January 2017 and November 2018, your child charged your credit card without your knowledge
- Your account was locked from January 2017 to September 2022 after you complained to your credit card company about improper charges
Anyone affected simply makes a claim On the Federal Trade Commission’s website. You can choose to receive your refund by mailed check or PayPal. The total amount you receive will depend on how many other people also file claims. The FTC currently expects the average payment per person to be about $114, which equates to about $6 fort night skin.
Why does this happen?
$245 million settlement comes amid regulatory crackdown on how fort nightHow the in-game store operates and how it monitors data belonging to children. When it comes to stores that specialize in selling everything from Raleigh dances to Godzilla costumes, the FTC determined that Epic Games is using “dark graphics to deceive players into making unnecessary purchases.”
This includes how easy it is to accidentally purchase a skin while previewing it, and how difficult it is to find a refund button when the purchase is still eligible to be reversed. The FTC also claims that some players who successfully refunded their money will be banned for alleged fraudulent behavior.
Read more: Seven years later, fort night is a better game than ever
In addition to the settlement, the FTC also requires Epic to stop “charging consumers for the use of dark mode or charging consumers without their explicit consent” and “stop consumers from being charged for unauthorized use of dispute charges to access their account.”
The FTC announced this week that it expects the next round of settlement refunds to be issued to affected players sometime in 2025, after verifying all current claims. It will arrive years later, but timely for fans who are hurting fort nightof An appreciating currency and battle pass price.
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