The American Federal Trade Commission has given out a further $126 million (around £91 million) in refunds to Fortnite players who’ve been “charged for unwanted purchases”, bringing the overall total issued so far to about $200 million. It’s also given eligible players who’re yet to submit a refund claim some extra time to do so.
These refunds are the ongoing fallout to a pair of complaints made to the FTC over Fortnite, which Epic opted to settle in late 2022 by paying a combined total of $520 million (£427 million). Epic were accused of breaching the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting data on under 13 Fortnite players without parental consent, and deliberately using tactics such as confusing button placements intended to push folks into buying cosmetics from the Fortnite store unintentionally.
The latter of those is what these refunds from the FTC are being issued to remedy, with $245 million of the settlement gradually being given out to affected players in the US. This latest $126 million wave of refunds is the second one, with the first having totalled over $72 million and been issued in December 2024.
The FTC says it’s sending out “969,173 checks and PayPal payments” across June 25 and 26 this time around, so it’s worth taking a look in those two places if you submitted a claim, as the body encourage cashing or accepting it within 90 days or 30 days respectively. They also note that claims made later than February 14, 2025 are still being reviewed.
If you’re in America and meet the rest of the criteria outlined here, you can still apply for a Fortnite refund for a little while longer, with the FTC having reopened claims until July 9.
Games should go above and beyond to make sure players even more clearly understand when they are making a purchase with real money or with virtual currencies to prevent accidental purchases,” Epic wrote in a statement issued about the settlement back in 2022.
“We don’t want players to pay for something that they did not intend to,” they continued, “Since May 2018, Fortnite has had a refund token system and an undo-purchase system, but now we’ve gone further. We’ve updated our payment flows with a hold-to-purchase mechanic that re-confirms a player’s intent to buy, as an additional safeguard to prevent unintended purchases alongside instant purchase cancellations and self-service refunds.”
Here’s hoping everyone affected gets the refund they deserve.
