Epic Games Fined $520 Million for Tricking Children Into Purchases

The FTC alleged that Epic Games, maker of the wildly popular game Fortnite, employed manipulative "dark pattern" design techniques to trick players — many of whom were children — into making unintended purchases. The game's interface was deliberately designed so that common, innocent actions like pressing a button to wake the game from sleep mode could trigger purchases.

Players, including minors, were charged for items they didn't want. When parents disputed these unauthorized charges with their credit card companies, Epic locked the entire accounts — effectively holding their purchased content hostage unless they agreed to drop the dispute.

Additionally, Epic violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting personal information from children under 13 without parental consent. The company enabled live voice and text chat for children and teens by default, exposing them to harassment, bullying, and contact from strangers.

Internal documents showed that Epic employees had raised concerns about the confusing purchase flow, but the company did not make meaningful changes because the existing design was profitable.