As of Monday’s announcement, Epic Games, the company that developed the popular game Fortnite, has reached a compromise with the Federal Trade Commission that would have them pay a total of $520 million in fines and reimbursements.
Epic Games allegedly violated COPPA by using “design strategies, known as dark patterns, to trick millions of gamers,” the FTC stated.
The FTC alleges that children were put at risk of harassment and abuse by these functions, particularly given that Epic had no way to prevent children and adults from being matched together in online gaming.
The FTC claims that the game has exposed children to “psychologically distressing topics such as suicide,” including bullying, threats, and harassment.
The fines are “the highest penalty ever imposed for violating an FTC rule,” the commission stated.
The settlement is the result of an FTC probe into Epic’s privacy and other activities, which were revealed during the trial of its case against Apple in 2021.
