Current Events > Fortnite Video Game Maker Epic Games to Pay More Than Half a Billion Dollars....

(+) Yeah! (+)

....over FTC Allegations of Privacy Violations and Unwanted Charges.

Epic will pay a $275 million penalty for violating childrens privacy law, change default privacy settings, and pay $245 million in refunds for tricking users into making unwanted charges

Here are the bullet points,

• Violated COPPA by Failing to Notify Parents, Obtain Consent
• Default settings harm children and teens
• Used dark patterns to trick users into making purchases
• Charged account holders without authorization
• Blocked access to purchased content

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/12/
fortnite-video-game-maker-epic-games-pay-more-half-billion-dollars
-over-ftc-allegations

Epics settings enable live on-by-default text and voice communications for users. The FTC alleges that these default settings, along with Epics role in matching children and teens with strangers to play Fortnite together, harmed children and teens. Children and teens have been bullied, threatened, harassed, and exposed to dangerous and psychologically traumatizing issues such as suicide while on Fortnite.

That's...quite the claim.

Cobra1010 posted...

Charged account holders without authorization

companies who did this should be sued to the ground.

Kimberly posted...

That's...quite the claim.

But not one that a Gamer would deny doing in a MW2 lobby.

Fortnite and every game like it should be banned. Nothing but trash and damaging to society on too many levels

Cobra1010 posted...

Used dark patterns to trick users into making purchases

elaboration? like, they disguised the purchase button so people would click it accidentally or something?

frozenstar posted...

elaboration? like, they disguised the purchase button so people would click it accidentally or something?

It's the standard skinner box stuff, but they've decided to actually prosecute instead of just letting it happen.

ellis123 posted...

It's the standard skinner box stuff

I'm afraid I don't know what that means >_>

frozenstar posted...

elaboration? like, they disguised the purchase button so people would click it accidentally or something?

From the page

Used dark patterns to trick users into making purchases: The company has deployed a variety of dark patterns aimed at getting consumers of all ages to make unintended in-game purchases. Fortnites counterintuitive, inconsistent, and confusing button configuration led players to incur unwanted charges based on the press of a single button. 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. These tactics led to hundreds of millions of dollars in unauthorized charges for consumers.

That's fucked >:(

frozenstar posted...

I'm afraid I don't know what that means >_>

It's the stuff that you see in gacha games and the like: daily rewards, microtransactions in the form of gambling, etc. Essentially Skinner is a person who is most famous for an experiment about the usage of stimulus to create habits in animals. Unsurprisingly humans aren't actually all that special so his work is used constantly to cause addiction in various mediums.

Yeah 'Fear-Of-Missing-Out' definitely has an effect on me. But luckily, im quite busy with my work life now so i dont really have the time to get fully invested into any long/big games.

>Tim Sweeney

Get fucked Epic

ellis123 posted...

But not one that a Gamer would deny doing in a MW2 lobby.

oof, now those lobbies were ROUGH back in the day

Kimberly posted...

That's...quite the claim.

That's something some gamers would mock you for not experiencing.