Over $115 million will be refunded to players of popular videogame Fortnite after consumers were “tricked” by games publisher Epic Games into making unwanted purchases.

In the last seven years, Epic Games has established a dominant position in the gaming scene for its flagship title Fortnite, a free-to-play, battle-royale videogame which allows players to make in-game cosmetic purchases using a virtual currency called ‘V-Bucks’.

While players can earn small amounts of V-Bucks through gameplay actions, the easiest route is to purchase them with real money.

Using this model, Fortnite has sold enough virtual items, costumes and character dances to generate annual revenue in the billions, but in December the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the gaming company had started paying out more than $115.6 million ($US 72 million) to consumers who were “tricked by Epic Games” into making unwanted purchases.

The announcement comes as part of a 2022 settlement which saw Epic Games ordered to pay $393.3 million (US$245 million) to resolve allegations it used misleading design elements called ‘dark patterns’ to dupe “millions of players” into making unintentional purchases.

The FTC explained that thanks to Fortnite’s design, players could be charged by “pressing an adjacent button while attempting simply to preview an item”; while attempting to “wake the game from sleep mode”; or even while the game was in a loading screen.

“The FTC alleged that Fortnite’s counterintuitive, inconsistent, and confusing button configuration led players of all ages to incur unwanted charges based on the press of a single button,” wrote the commission.

Epic Games did not respond when asked for comment.

Check your credit card statement

Frequently collaborating with well-known brands and celebrities (including Disney, MrBeast and Lego), Fortnite’s in-game purchases are often designed to appeal to youth demographics.

The FTC alleged children shopping on Fortnite were left to “rack up unauthorised charges without any parental involvement”, and up until 2018, Epic allowed children to purchase V-Bucks by “simply pressing buttons without requiring any parental or card holder action or consent”.

According to the commission, some parents complained their children had accrued “hundreds of dollars in charges”.

The publisher was also alleged to have “purposefully obscured cancel and refund features” to make them more difficult to find, purportedly blocking purchased content for some users who disputed wrongful charges.

“Consumers whose accounts have been locked lose access to all the content they have purchased, which can total thousands of dollars,” said the FTC.

The refunds come two years after Epic was simultaneously ordered to pay $441.4 million ($US275 million) over allegations it collected personal data from children without first obtaining consent from a parent or guardian.

Near 630,000 refunds

The FTC plans to send 629,344 payments in total to Fortnite players in the US, covering all valid claims it received by 8 October 2024.

On Reddit, users verified having received payments through cheque or PayPal, varying from as little as US$2 to as much as US$250 – though many appeared unsure of the amount they would be receiving.

“I got one for 250! “My ex girlfriend’s son was racking up [her] credit card haha,” wrote Reddit user Ok_Vast_537.

“Spent over 3K on that game and only got a refund of $2.50, the audacity,” wrote Possible-Signal-4713.

The FTC said the average payment is roughly US$114 per player, with additional payments expected in 2025 after it has reviewed and validated all claims.

Applicants can still file a refund claim until 10 January, though the claims process is currently limited to Fortnite players in the US.

In Australia, Epic Games is embroiled in an ongoing legal battle over allegations Apple and Google are operating illegal monopolies which impact how users can download and make purchases within apps, including Fortnite.

Similar action brought by Epic Games in the US has resulted in Google being ordered to make significant changes to its Google Play store, giving consumers more options on where to download apps on Android.