The FTC is paying $126 million in refunds to Fortnite players
Players have until July 9 to file a refund claim through the FTC’s official website.
I started playing Fortnite about two years ago, and the in-game shop feels pretty straightforward with clear prompts, confirmation screens, and a system that’s hard to mess up by accident. But that wasn’t always the case.
Back in 2022, Epic Games—Fortnite’s developer—was hit with a major lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission, which accused the company of using “deceptive practices” to trick players into making unwanted purchases.
The FTC said Epic charged users without clear consent, let kids rack up charges without parental approval, and even locked people out of their accounts if they disputed those charges. In the end, Epic agreed to a $245 million settlement and committed to fixing the way its systems worked.
As part of that deal, the FTC is now issuing $126 million in refunds to players, on top of the $72 million already sent out in a previous round around December 2024. Nearly 970,000 players in the U.S. are getting refunds this time, and there’s still time to file—until July 9—through the FTC’s official site.
Oluwaseun Bamisile
Eligible players can choose to get paid by check or PayPal, which must be cashed or redeemed within 90 days and 30 days, respectively. To qualify for the refund, you had to be charged for unwanted items between January 2017 and September 2022, have had a child make charges to your credit card without your knowledge between January 2017 and November 2018, or have had your account locked after disputing a charge.
Additionally, you must be 18 or older to file for the refund, but parents can submit claims on behalf of underage players.
That being said, other gaming companies have faced similar criticism. In 2020, EA was pressured in several countries over loot boxes in FIFA Ultimate Team, with countries like the Netherlands fining the company up to €10 million.
But Epic’s case is one of the most aggressive examples of regulatory enforcement in gaming. The scale of the refunds and the strict terms of the settlement signal a shift in how gaming monetisation is being policed.
The message is quite clear: if a game is going to monetise heavily, especially when kids are involved, it needs to do so with safeguards in place. Fortnite’s changes show how fast that shift can happen when the consequences are this big.
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