The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued Epic Games for violating a major COPPA rule to coerce players to buy unwanted merchandise from their shop. Numerous students use their time playing video games, including Fortnite, as a way to settle down after long school days With the growth of online gaming and are now seeking compensation for their misconduct.
In December 2022, the FTC announced that Epic Games must pay a reimbursement to its players due to claims of using illegal tactics to bill players, causing them to make unwanted purchases. Senior Laila Hakim believes that she was one of numerous players that have experienced instances where she felt compelled to make purchases within their item shop.
“Every time I play Fortnite I feel obligated to buy a skin and I feel like that is some kind of manipulation” Hakim (12) said.
Within Fortnite, a player must purchase their in-game currency, v-bucks, to buy items inside the shop. These items range from skins to pickaxes to emotes. The FTC claims that young players, both teens and children, were targeted by the company to pressure players to buy merchandise within the Fortnite item shop without knowledge that real currency must be used to purchase said items.
The FTC also states that players’ personal information about their age were used to push players to buy things within the Fortnite item shop. Senior Tanner Vogrin states that Fortnite did use these tactics to their advantage, using children’s innocence against them.
“I think that there’s a lot of really young kids playing and can be very easily swayed in different things especially when they’re very colorful and animated.” Vogrin (12) said.
This has not been the first time Epic Games has seen legal trouble. In 2020, Epic Games sued Apple for violating Epic’s guidelines within the Apple Store which then banned the game from all IOS devices. This legal battle between Apple and Epic Games has made it hard for players to access the game with ease. Senior Eva Ham believes that this made it even harder for her to play the game that she loves.
“I used to play Fortnite Mobile all the time.” Ham said. “Ever since the legal things going on between them, I haven’t been able to play and without a console or PC, I’m even more in the struggle bus.
Hakim believes that Fortnite will continue to be in legal trouble. She believes this won’t be the last time that they will be in a situation such as this.
“I think they’re a little problematic,” Hakim said.
This offense committed by Epic Games highlights how easily swayed young gamers can be in the gaming world. It is said that the average reimbursement for each player is $114, which is around 1.2 million v-bucks. The masses of the Fortnite community are filing for this refund and expecting much change from this discovery of deceptive advertising.
“I’m waiting for them to run me my check,” Hakim said.
