The FTC announced that an order, originated in December of last year, has now been finalized. The order compels Epic Games, developer of wildly popular battle royale Fortnite, to pay out $245 million in refunds to settle allegations that it violated COPPA and "used dark patterns to trick players into making unwanted purchases and let children rack up unauthorized charges without any parental involvement."
If you or your child were hoodwinked into blowing your hard-earned cash on V-Bucks by Fortnite's (admittedly very heavy-handed) monetization scheme, you can apply for your share of those millions at https://ftc.gov/Fortnite. Epic Games stated that it accepted these terms out of a desire to be "on the forefront of consumer protection", and has introduced a new, protected account type for those under 13 in an effort to resolve a few more of the FTC's grievances.
