The decision has seen mixed reactions due to competition taking place during standard workdays, with matches at 3 p.m.
#Epic loot box settlement series
League of Legends developer Riot Games announced schedule changes for North America’s League Championship Series that will prevent overlap between the LCS and other regional leagues. “We accepted this agreement because we want Epic to be at the forefront of consumer protection and provide the best experience for our players.” “Statutes written decades ago don’t specify how gaming ecosystems should operate,” Epic said. Using internal testing, Epic purposefully obscured cancel and refund features to make them more difficult to find.” Epic Games did not admit guilt in its statement on the settlement. “In fact, Epic’s changes only made the problem worse, the FTC alleged. “Epic ignored more than one million user complaints and repeated employee concerns that ‘huge’ numbers of users were being wrongfully charged,” the FTC said in its report. The FTC claimed areas with purchasing options in Fortnite violated FTC consumer protection guidelines.The resolutions were both the largest-ever settlements for penalties in their respective courts by the FTC, according to the agency. The $245 million that makes up the rest of the resolution covers an allegation of the use of “dark patterns,” or a user experience design that does not make it clear a person is purchasing something, by Epic Games. The civil complaint, which makes up $275 million of the resolution, also said the game’s default setting enabling voice and text chat violated COPPA, as it put children at risk through those communications. The FTC alleged Epic violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act through its collection of data from people under the age of 13 without parental supervision or consent, according to a report from the organization detailing the settlement. While some European countries have banned loot boxes as a form of illegal gambling, legislative efforts to regulate the practice in some US states (and the US Senate) have by and large stalled after gaining some momentum in 20.Fortnite developer Epic Games will pay $520 million to the Federal Trade Commission as part of a resolution of two complaints from the FTC. "This is why today we only offer X-Ray Llamas that show you the contents before you purchase them in 'Save the World'" (and similarly transparent blueprints in Rocket League).
"We believe players should know upfront what they are paying for when they make in-game purchases," Epic wrote in a tweet announcing the move today. Minors in California who purchased a loot box "with own money and without parental permission" will also be eligible for a cash refund of up to $50 if they submit a claim. Those cash payments (of up to $50 per claimant) will only be available to players who submit an active claim form establishing that they think their purchase constituted "consumer fraud" or breach of contract. Advertisementįurther Reading Meet the legislator trying to do something about video game loot boxesIn addition to the virtual currency, Epic will also be providing "up to $26.5 million in cash and other benefits to U.S.-based Fortnite and Rocket League players" to settle the claims. That suggests a rough valuation of over $78.3 million in digital reward payouts as part of the settlement. A marketing bargain?Įpic estimates roughly 6.5 million Fortnite players and 2.9 million Rocket League players will receive the automatic virtual currency payments, according to The Verge. Players of both games won't have to do anything to claim the benefit, which will appear in their accounts in the coming days. Rocket League players will similarly receive 1,000 credits (worth roughly $9.10) if they bought a randomized Event Crate or key in that game before Epic stopped offering them in October 2019 (just months after it purchased Rocket League developer Psyonix). Even though it's settling a US lawsuit, Epic says this same deal will apply to all Fortnite players globally. Under a proposed settlement for that suit, which Epic says has achieved preliminary approval, all players who purchased a loot llama at any time will be rewarded with 1,000 V-Bucks (worth roughly $8). Shortly after ending the practice, Epic was faced with a class-action lawsuit alleging, among other things, that it had "psychologically manipulate its young players into thinking they will 'get lucky.'"
#Epic loot box settlement full
Further Reading Fortnite puts an end to random loot box purchasesWhile Epic never offered loot boxes in Fortnite's mega-popular battle royale mode, it let "Save the World" players purchase "loot llamas" full of random items until early 2019 (amid international outcry about the randomized loot-box business and its similarity to gambling).
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