Tuesday, May 14th 2024
Epic Games Fined €1.1 Million in Netherlands Court for Misleading Underage Children
Epic Games, the developer behind the battle royale game Fortnite, has been slapped with a hefty fine of €1.1 million for violating EU consumer laws and pressuring youngsters into making in-game purchases. This decision was made by the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) following an investigation into the company's practices. The ACM found that Epic Games had failed to provide clear information about the nature of its in-game purchases, particularly to children. This lack of transparency led to many young players making unintended purchases, which was a clear violation of EU consumer protection laws. The authority also noted that Epic Games' practices were designed to encourage children to make frequent purchases, which further deepens the issue. Netherlands' ACM claims that these were "dark patterns" which are prohibited in the EU. More specifically, these were "Get it now" or "Buy now" phrases that pushed youngsters into making choices. One fine is for illegal aggressive commercial practice that created fear of missing out (FOMO), which is calculated at €562,500. Another €562,500 is fined on countdown timers, which were used in the Item Shop for items that were still available even after the timer had reached zero. This totals €1.125 million.
In response to the fine, Epic Games has announced its intention to appeal the decision. This fine serves as a significant reminder to game developers of the importance of transparency and consumer protection in the gaming industry. As the popularity of online gaming continues to grow, companies must prioritize the well-being and financial security of their young players. The ACM's decision sends a strong message that such practices will not be tolerated and that companies must take responsibility for their actions. The fine is significant, and it will be interesting to see how Epic Games responds to the decision. In a statement for GameIndustry.biz, Epic Games has noted that "The findings in the ACM's decision contain significant factual errors about how Fortnite and the Item Shop operate. The ACM is mandating changes that would result in a poor experience for players. We will appeal this decision. While our appeal is pending, players in the Netherlands that are under the age of 18 will not be able to see or purchase items that are in the shop for less than 48 hours, beginning May 24, 2024."
Sources:
GameIndustry.biz, ACM
In response to the fine, Epic Games has announced its intention to appeal the decision. This fine serves as a significant reminder to game developers of the importance of transparency and consumer protection in the gaming industry. As the popularity of online gaming continues to grow, companies must prioritize the well-being and financial security of their young players. The ACM's decision sends a strong message that such practices will not be tolerated and that companies must take responsibility for their actions. The fine is significant, and it will be interesting to see how Epic Games responds to the decision. In a statement for GameIndustry.biz, Epic Games has noted that "The findings in the ACM's decision contain significant factual errors about how Fortnite and the Item Shop operate. The ACM is mandating changes that would result in a poor experience for players. We will appeal this decision. While our appeal is pending, players in the Netherlands that are under the age of 18 will not be able to see or purchase items that are in the shop for less than 48 hours, beginning May 24, 2024."
35 Comments on Epic Games Fined €1.1 Million in Netherlands Court for Misleading Underage Children
However, 1.1 million Euros is pocket change to Epic. I wouldn't even call it a slap on the wrist. We're talking about a company with 5.6 billion USD in revenue last year and a profit of 720 million USD.
It seems that every time it goes like this : Headline with huge amount of money a company has to pay -> gives the impression that governments are doing their job protecting consumers -> company appeals and ends up paying a lot less or nothing at all -> this usually doesn't make the headlines so most people never find this out.
The EU drew the line. Look at GDPR. It wont go away. Companies either get in line or GTFO.
Nuke em all I say. This is why we have the EU. Go go go
If you shift the lens to gaming though, every single EU intervention has directly had its effect. I remember a not so recent shitstorm regarding Ubisoft; Belgian ban on the lootbox and it being under scrutiny in most surrounding countries; and now there is this. And somehow, all these annoying principles still don't force companies to leave us behind. Could it be, just maybe, that governments doing their job is actually effective? But I agree with you in the basic sense of that... they need to actually do their job. Protection takes effort, continuously.
You know like why former Presidents/PM aren't thrown in jail for obvious crimes or fraud?
The answer why things go slow is that things are difficult. If it was easy we'd have solved it; we've written a history of easy solutions haven't we. Quite often it involved death threats or actual death, or any range of other unpleasantries. By contrast... today we're talking about it. But the same conflicts happen. Conflicts of interests.
The point being the influence of corporations has only ever increased & not in a good way, whether you're in the US/EU or anywhere else in the world.
The world is the world. As far as the EU doing the right thing... hell no. We've been asleep at the wheel geopolitically... But in the consumer space? Yeah I think most if not all decisions are progress.I agree, and its a bad thing.
Epic pull in $15M/day. This is 30 minutes of revenue to them.
€500 million would be a two-month setback that might actually be enough of a slap on the wrist to make them change something.
How they going to recover from this :D
But Epic is far from the prime target here. Wait until they discover gacha games. They operate entirely on a FOMO basis.
Now $1.1B, yea that might make them pay attention, at least for a little while anyways :)
You call what we have in Canada a democracy? That is laughable at best. Dictatorship/Communism is a better term. Canada's current government is as corrupt and perverted as it gets. Smoke and Mirrors is all the average citizen gets. And no, our current federal government doesnt consist of citizens. It consists of corrupt and perverted cronies from top to bottom. Scandal after scandal.
So yes, lots of smoke and mirrors here.
Fifa specially panders to children, hell I'm pretty sure they are responsible for all the jokes of kids stealing their parent's credit cards.
Anyways micro transactions should be banned the sooner the better.