Epic Games has agreed to pay a total of $520 million to settle allegations of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and using tactics designed to trick players into making purchases.

Epic will pay more than $275 million (according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the largest fine in its history) for collecting personal information of children under the age of 13 and another $245 million in restitution to customers for manipulating “dark patterns” (the FTC claims that this is the largest gaming-related compensation).

“Dark patterns” are special design elements used in apps, websites, and games to trick a user into taking an unintended action (such as signing up for a newsletter, clicking something they didn’t intend to click, or even buy).

The FTC alleged that Epic used this tactic in Fortnite because of the confusing button configuration. This has reportedly resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in unauthorized charges to consumers.

“Players may be charged for trying to bring the game out of hibernate mode while the game is in the process of loading, or when clicking the button next to it when trying to simply view an item,” the agency said.

Epic also found itself on the FTC’s Violator List for charging unauthorized account holders and blocking access to purchased content when a customer disputed an illegal charge to their credit card.

Course

FINANCIAL MANAGER

Become a professional financial manager and earn from $500 in 2 months.

REGISTER!

In a statement, Epic Games said it is entering into the agreement to protect consumers and provide them with an unforgettable gaming experience.

$245 million will go toward compensating Fortnite players and parents of children who made unwanted or unauthorized purchases in the United States. The FTC advises other potentially affected players to stay tuned to the FTC Fortnite page for updates.

As part of the proposed settlement, Epic Games should also adopt some standard high-privacy settings for children and teens. The company said it has developed “cabined accounts,” a new type of account for younger users in which features such as chat and in-app purchases are disabled by default. Children who indicate they are under 13 will have their accounts locked and will also be asked to provide a parent’s email address before they can access features such as voice chats.

Earlier this month, the FTC filed a lawsuit to block Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Source: Techspot