Epic Games paying $245M to Fortnite players: How to claim your refund

Fortnite developer Epic Games has agreed to pay $245 million to settle FTC allegations related to in-game purchases. Here’s what you need to know.

News broke on Monday that Epic Games has reached an agreement with the FTC regarding concerns around in-game purchases. The settlement also included a $275 million fine for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA), meaning the company is down a whopping $520 million in total.

Epic says that it accepted the agreement because “we want to be at the forefront of consumer protection and provide the best experience for our players”.

Alongside the financial penalties, Fortnite will be introducing a new hold-to-purchase mechanic, instant cancellations, an explicit yes/no choice to save payment information, and a whole suite of extra parental controls. The refund and purchase system already got an upgrade in September.

How to claim a refund from Fortnite

The FTC will make refunds available to:

• Parents whose children made an unauthorized credit card purchase in the Epic Games Store between January 2017 and November 2018

• Fortnite players who were charged in-game currency (V-Bucks) for unwanted in-game items (such as cosmetics, llamas, or battle passes) between January 2017 and September 2022

• Fortnite players whose accounts were locked between January 2017 and September 2022 after disputing unauthorized charges with their credit card companies.

The refund program isn’t live just yet, so you don’t need to do anything right now. Updates will be posted to ftc.gov/fortnite and the FTC will send email notices to people who paid for in-game purchases.

So, your best bet is to keep checking the FTC website for news. You can also sign up to get email updates about the refund program.

Be sure to bookmark this article - we will share further information as soon as it becomes available!

Up next: Fortnite x My Hero Academia: Deku’s Smash Mythic, Free cosmetics & new skins