Fortnite Players Get Millions in Refunds for Unwanted Purchases

Fortnite players who were charged for unwanted purchases in the game where cartoony characters battle on a virtual island are starting to receive what could be $245 million in refunds from Epic Games for what the federal government called manipulative online practices.

Denver Wills, a 20-year-old college student near Anniston, Ala., who has been playing Fortnite since middle school, said that a friend had received $350 and that he hoped to get a similar amount. It would help him cover the costs of building a new computer.

“Any money’s good money at this point,” said Wills, who is waiting for his check in the mail.

Fortnite’s in-game currency, V-Bucks, can be spent on cosmetics, weapons and outfits — known as skins — that enable players to make their avatars look like celebrities and fictional characters. To appear as John Wick, a player must spend about $19; the rapper Juice WRLD, who died in 2019, is about $14. When it is not on sale, a bundle of Spider-Man outfits and paraphernalia costs almost $50.

Epic agreed in December 2022 to a $520 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission that sent a strong signal that federal officials were taking a more assertive stance toward regulating the tech industry. Customers could ultimately receive $245 million for what the agency called Epic’s use of “dark patterns” to trick millions of players into unwanted purchases. Another $275 million will settle accusations that the studio violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

A representative for Epic, which released Fortnite in 2017, said the company did not have additional comments beyond a statement it made when the settlement was announced. In that statement, Epic said it now asked players to explicitly approve that they wanted their payment information saved.

“The old status quo for in-game commerce and privacy has changed, and many developer practices should be reconsidered,” the statement said. “We share the underlying principles of fairness, transparency and privacy that the F.T.C. enforces.”