Fortnite and other Epic Games customers are about to get a $72 million refund. Here’s why.

Fortnite players and other Epic Games customers duped by the game maker into making unwanted purchases are set to receive refund payments from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

As part of a settlement first announced in December 2022, the video game maker has been ordered by the FTC to pay $245 million to resolve allegations that it used illegal billing practices involving design tricks known as dark patterns to cause players to accidentally pick up. It’s the largest restitution amount ever in a gaming case, the agency said.

The FTC says it is sending more than 629,000 payments Monday, with more payouts coming later. About half of the first tranche of payments will be made through PayPal, and the other half will be checks. In total, customers will receive $72 million in refunds, according to the agency.

How much money does each customer get?

The average payment is about $114, the FTC said. Epic Games customers who are eligible for a refund selected their payment method when submitting an application form. Customers who have chosen to receive PayPal payments have 30 days to cash the money, while check recipients have 90 days to cash it.

What did Epic Games do?

The FTC alleges that the Fortnite maker used dark patterns along with a variety of other tactics to trick customers into making unwanted purchases.

For example, a “counterintuitive, inconsistent and confusing button configuration” led Fortnite players to easily incur unwanted charges with a single button press, according to the FTC. Additionally, trying to switch the game from sleep to wake often triggered unwanted purchases. Other times, pressing an “adjacent button” while trying to preview an item resulted in a charge.

“As our complaint notes, Epic used privacy-invasive default settings and deceptive interfaces that tricked Fortnite users, including teenagers and children,” FTC Chairwoman Lina M. Khan said in December 2022, when the settlement was first announced. “Protecting the public, and especially children, from privacy violations and dark patterns is a top priority for the Commission, and these enforcement actions make it clear to businesses that the FTC is cracking down on these illegal practices.”