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Epic Games is in the eye of the storm once again. This time, Epic has been fined by the United States' Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the reason being collecting data from children under the age of 13 and also pairing children with other people around the world, failing to adhere to proper parental control and giving an entry for children to be harassed, bullied and threated online, for which Epic Games is being fined $275 million USD by the FTC.

Not only that, but Epic is also getting another fine regarding their in-game store and refund system, with a sum of $245 million USD. This comes from the way in which Epic lays out their button and UI configurations to trick the users into making unwanted purchases, and also, there have been mentions of parents claiming their kids make additional purchases based on the credit card information they used from a previous purchase, meaning that the subsequent purchases didn't require any form of verification or validation.

To make matters worse for Epic Games, they are currently facing a class-action lawsuit in Canada by parents claiming the game is made specifically designed in a way to make the game addictive, which might fall under the World Health Organization's definition of "gaming disorder" as an illness. Canada approved the lawsuit, and it still remains to be seen what might come out of it in court.

Epic Game's Official Post
Source #1
Source #2

 

[SylverReZ]

That's not so Epic of them to do that.

 

[Noctosphere]

Well, i mean, it's really easy to click on a box to say "yes i'm 13 or above", so easy that even a 8 y/o child can do that...
They also couldn't ask for proof, since this would be collecting actual data, so...
The fact that they paires child under 13 with other people around the world shouldn't be on them since, well, there's literally nothing anyone can do about that...
You know that pop up that asks you if you are over 18 when you go on pornhub? Do you REALLY think a 14 y/o horny boy will click on "No i'm not, get me out of here"?

 

[Kioku]

Deja vu....

 

[ZeroFX]

State being state, also, BURN "epic" games lmao.

 

[Thejax]

subsequent purchases didn't require any form of verification or validation.

Like most apps with the “don’t remind me for an hour” setting?

Millions of phone games are more predominately preying on kids then this

 

[MariArch]

Nice

 

[TheXpertXD]

Aight but why is there a Gears of War emblem and a video camera behind the epic games logo

 

[paulttt]

Aight but why is there a Gears of War emblem and a video camera behind the epic games logo

Because epic are behind the gears of war series.

 

[ertaboy356b]

Another senseless law that's behind the times. They should discipline parents instead for letting their child play games.

 

[Bladexdsl]

bwa hhahahaha keep em coming the more they get fined the better

 

[urbanman2004]

Tim Sweeney, how dare you 🙄😒🤦🏽‍♂🤷🏽‍♂😅😆😂

 

[RichardTheKing]

failing to adequate to proper parental control

I think you meant "adhere", not "adequate".

Also, <$300 million twice? Isn't that essentially just pocket change to this billion-dollar company? Each fine should've been at least a billion or so, to make a noticeable dent in their finances - since that's all they really care about.

 

[SylverReZ]

Tim Sweeney, how dare you 🙄😒🤦🏽‍♂🤷🏽‍♂😅😆😂

What did the emojis do to him

 

[Bedel]

I know that most people here are biased against Epic, but this more parents fault than it's theirs. Also as some people pointed out: this is not only a problem with Epic but with so, so many apps and game companies...

 

[depaul]

Don't care because I hate fortnite, but I love Epic store they're real competitor to Steam monopoly:
-Game on Steam : $60
-Same game on Epic : $50

 

[swutch]

They introduced a new child mode recently. Now it becomes clear why.

 

[RichardTheKing]

They introduced a new child mode recently. Now it becomes clear why.

What exactly does that mode do? I mean, it's likely gonna block M-rated games and higher, and ask for confirmation before purchases, but what else?

 

[swutch]

What exactly does that mode do? I mean, it's likely gonna block M-rated games and higher, and ask for confirmation before purchases, but what else?

https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/parental-controls

 

[Sir Tortoise]

Looking forward to comparing the comments on this vs the FTC Playstation thread.

Also curious to see how the Canada lawsuit goes. That would be an interesting precedent to set.