FTC Refunding Fortnite Players with a $245 million settlement

The Federal Trade Commission announced Monday it is sending refunds to players of the popular online game Fortnite, the developer of which settled a complaint last year centered around accusations of tricking players into unwanted purchases.

Background

The news comes two years after the FTC ordered the North Carolina-based Epic Games to pay a total of $520 million to settle allegations that it collected personal data from children without first obtaining the consent of a parent or guardian. 

“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,” the agency said in its release Monday. “For example, players could be charged while attempting to wake the game from sleep mode, while the game was in a loading screen, or by pressing an adjacent button while attempting simply to preview an item.”

Filing a Claim

The claims window is still open for those who received notification about the settlement but haven't filed yet. The window closes on Jan. 10, 2025, the deadline to file a claim for this settlement. 

Those filing must be 18 or older; minors can ask a parent or guardian to complete the form on their behalf. A claim number and an Epic account ID are required.

According to the FTC, filing a claim will not affect a player's Fortnite account. For more information, see the FTC's Fortnite refunds FAQ.

The settlement applies to anyone who was charged for in-game currency for items they did not want to purchase between January 2017 and September 2022; if a child made credit card charges without a parent's knowledge between January 2017 and November 2018; or if an account was locked after a charge was disputed between January 2017 and September 2022.  

If you're interested in the stats and leaderboard information for Fortnite, then check out our official tracker page for the game! We also have a Fortnite Tracker App that can monitor your in-game performance. Consider checking us out and let us know on Twitter at @FortniteTracker what you'd like to see next!