37 Million People Eligible for Refund From Epic Games
Fortnite players have a chance to get their money back for wrongful transactions. They can apply for refunds until early next year.
The Epic Games Store was supposed to compete with Steam in the digital distribution market, but for now its owner is on the losing end of a court battle with customers. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that more than 37 million people can demand refunds from Epic Games for microtransactions in Fortnite.
The announcement follows a decision from March, under which the company was to pay $245 million in compensation to Fortnite players and their parents for "using non-obvious solutions, tricking users into unwanted purchases and enabling children to make payments without parental supervision." Previously, Epic Games had to pay a $275 million fine.
As the announcement on the FTC's official website reads, refunds can be claimed by:
- individuals who paid with in-game currency for unwanted items between January 2017 and September 2022;
- parents or guardians of children who made credit card payments without their knowledge or consent between January 2017 and November 2018;
- users with Epic accounts blocked after complaining to their credit card company about unfairly imposed fees between January 2017 and September 2022.
To see if you qualify for a refund, you will need to fill out an application form on FTC's official website and provide your Epic account ID. You can find it on Epic Games' website after logging in under the account settings section. You can find detailed instructions here.
Applications can be submitted until January 17, 2024, with a parent or guardian (i.e., someone at least 18 years old) having to fill out the application for underage players.
