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192-3203

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

BEFORE THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

COMMISSIONERS: Lina M. Khan, Chair

Rebecca Kelly Slaughter

Christine S. Wilson

Alvaro M. Bedoya 

________________________________________________ 

In the Matter of

EPIC GAMES, INC., a corporation. 

DOCKET NO.

________________________________________________ 

COMPLAINT

The Federal Trade Commission, having reason to believe that Epic Games, Inc., a 

corporation (“Respondent” or “Epic”), has violated the provisions of the Federal Trade 

Commission Act, and it appearing to the Commission that this proceeding is in the public 

interest, alleges:

Summary of Case 

1. Epic is the developer and distributor of the hit video game Fortnite, which is

popular among kids. Though Fortnite itself is free to download and play, Epic charges consumers 

for certain in-game items, such as costumes, dance moves, and item-filled piñatas shaped like 

llamas. The problem: in many cases, Epic – employing myriad design tricks known as “dark 

patterns” – has charged consumers for such items without first obtaining their express informed 

consent, and then has banned consumers from accessing previously paid-for content when they 

have disputed unauthorized charges with their credit card providers. 

2. Millions of consumers have complained to Epic about these unfair practices and

disputed Epic’s unauthorized charges with their credit card providers. Epic’s own employees 

also have repeatedly raised concerns about these practices and recommended measures to 

address them. Yet despite consumers’ repeated complaints and employees’ concerns, Epic has

persisted in its unlawful conduct. 

Respondent

3. Respondent Epic Games, Inc. is a Maryland corporation with its principal office

or place of business at 620 Crossroads Blvd., Cary, North Carolina 27518. 

4. Respondent has advertised, marketed, offered for sale, sold, and distributed

products to consumers, including the video game Fortnite and Fortnite-related digital content. 
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5. The acts and practices of Respondent alleged in this Complaint have been in or 

affecting commerce, as “commerce” is defined in Section 4 of the Federal Trade Commission

Act. 

 

Epic’s Business Activities

6. Epic is the developer of the video game Fortnite, which is available on multiple 

platforms, including Sony PlayStation, Microsoft Xbox, and Nintendo Switch game consoles, 

mobile devices with Google Android, and personal computers (“PCs”) with Windows operating 

systems. Fortnite has previously been available on Apple iOS (mobile devices) and Mac OS 

(PCs) operating systems. Launched in July 2017, Fortnite has more than 400 million registered 

users, many of whom are children or the parents of children who use Fortnite. 

7. Epic also built and runs the Epic Games Store, an online video game store 

through which it distributes Fortnite and other video games developed by third parties to PC 

users. 

8. Fortnite is free to download, though Epic also sells a premium version of the 

game that costs money to download. 

9. At the time of Fortnite’s launch, when consumers first made a purchase through 

Epic – for example, of any video game – Epic saved consumers’ payment information by default 

and used it to bill consumers for future charges, including charges incurred by children while 

playing Fortnite or other games. Many consumers did not realize that Epic had saved their cards. 

Downloading Fortnite from the Epic Games Store

10. Account holders can download Fortnite by visiting the Epic Games Store and 

searching for the game by name or browsing the various categories within the store. At times, 

Fortnite has appeared under the categories “Most Popular” and “Free to Play.” Epic displays 

search results or the contents of a category in rows of icons. Below each icon is the title and price 

of the game. The price listed for Fortnite is “Free.” 

11. Below is a screenshot of what consumers have seen after clicking on the Fortnite 

icon on a personal computer. 
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12. Next to a brief description of the game is a yellow “GET” button to initiate

installation. Above the box, Epic reminds consumers that Fortnite is “Free.”

13. If the account holder had scrolled down the page, they could have viewed the full 

game description, the game’s age rating, and other information. At the very bottom of the page, 

and “below the fold” (meaning that the account holder would not have seen it without scrolling 

down), was a small white box containing the game’s age rating. Below the age rating, in tiny 

font, was text stating “In-Game Purchases/Users Interact.” Epic did not provide any further 

information about how or when it seeks account holder authorization for in-game charges. See

Exhibit 1. 

14. More than three years after it began billing for in-game charges, Epic began 

including this box nearer the top of the page, but still under the “GET” button. The download 

page still does not explain how or when Epic seeks account holder authorization for in-game 

charges. See Exhibit 2. 

Epic Has Charged Parents and Other Account Holders Without Authorization

15. The consumers who create Epic accounts and download Fortnite include parents 

who download Fortnite so that their kids can play the game. 

16. Once Fortnite has been downloaded, kids can compete against other players in 

head-to-head battles, complete missions and objectives, or develop their own mini-games and 

build custom structures. Kids also can customize a character’s appearance with different outfits, 

emotes (i.e., dance moves), and gliders (collectively, “Cosmetics”), use “Battle Passes” to unlock 
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additional in-game content (such as missions or Cosmetics), or in the premium version of the 

game, obtain piñatas shaped like llamas that are filled with various items (“Llamas”). 

17. To obtain Cosmetics, Battle Passes, and Llamas, kids use “V-Bucks.” For more

than a year after Epic began offering in-app purchases, kids could acquire V-Bucks simply by 

pressing buttons with no parental or card holder action or consent. At that point, Epic 

automatically billed the parents’ stored payment information for the V-Bucks. Epic did not 

require parents to enter a PIN or password to authorize V-bucks purchases, or even allow them to 

enable such a control. 

18. Epic began and persisted engaging in these practices despite prior public law

enforcement actions against Amazon, Apple, and Google for failing to obtain parents’ consent to 

charges in kids’ gaming apps. See, e.g., Complaint at 7-8, FTC v. Amazon.com, Inc., No. 2:14-

cv-01038 (W.D. Wash. July 10, 2014); FTC v. Amazon.com, Inc., No. C14-1038-JCC, 2016 WL

10654030, at *11 (W.D. Wash. July 22, 2016) (finding Amazon liable under Section 5 of the

FTC Act); Complaint at 4-5, In re Apple, Inc., No. C-4444 (Mar. 25, 2014); Complaint at 6-7, In

re Google, Inc., No. C-4499 (Dec. 2, 2014).

19. Many parents have been surprised to learn that Epic charged them hundreds of

dollars for kids’ in-app activities that they did not authorize. For example, one parent complained 

to Epic:

Hello Epic Games, The charges associated with this account were made without 

my authorization. This account is associated with my 10 year old son’s account and 

I am really disappointed that there is no check and balances that alerted me of these 

charges, and a 10 year old can purchase coins worth almost $500 so easily. 

20. Another parent complained about authorizing a one-time purchase, but then

being billed by Epic for additional charges without consent: 

Epic Games is swindling parents with unauthorized game purchases, tricking young 

consumers & using shady practices for billing. I authorized a 1-time Epic Games 

purchase for my 11 yr-old son, only to discover EG did NOT erase my credit card 

info, & thus my son has been making unauthorized purchases, racking up $140 in 

less than 8 days after the initial authorized purchase. 

21. In fact, according to company documents, “Unrecognized and Fraudulent

Charges” – a category that includes unapproved kid charges – was among the top five reasons 

consumers complained to Epic. 

22. Epic employees also raised concerns about unauthorized kid charges and

recommended measures to address them. For example, in June 2018, Epic employees discussed

plans to give account holders the option not to save their credit card information. As an Epic 

Senior Producer acknowledged, “[m]any people ... didn’t even realize it [their credit card] was 

saved.” 
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23. In reply, Epic’s Fraud and Risk Consultant added that the “goal” of the feature

was to “mak[e] sure the parent doesn’t have to store the card so we can prevent some of the 

unapproved kid purchases / friendly fraud.” However, Epic did not give consumers the option 

not to have their payment information saved by Epic until October 2018. 

24. Even then, Epic only added a small checkbox to the checkout page with the small

print, “Make this a one-time payment. Don’t save my credit card.” If consumers failed to notice 

and check the box prior to completing the transaction, Epic saved their payment information and 

automatically billed them for future purchases. Further, Epic still did not inform account holders 

that Epic would automatically bill their saved credit card for future charges. And it was aware 

that “typically the behavior [was] not to check this box[.]” 

25. Epic’s Fraud and Risk Consultant also recommended in June 2018 that Epic begin

requiring account holders with saved credit cards to confirm their CVV numbers before charging 

them. According to his email, “This is standard / best practice and it prevents kids from using 

mom’s credit card without her permission[.]” However, Epic did not begin requiring cardholders 

to re-enter their credit card CVV numbers for most transactions before charging them until 

November 2018. By then, Epic had billed account holders for more than 200 million V-Bucks 

charges (totaling more than $4 billion), many of them unauthorized. 

Epic Has Billed Users for Unauthorized Digital Currency Charges

26. In addition to charging parents and other account holders without authorization

for kids’ in-app activities, Epic has designed its in-game purchase flows in a way that makes it 

easy for users of all ages to incur unwanted charges. 

27. Take the purchase flow for Cosmetics. Users can browse and view Cosmetic

items in the Fortnite Item Shop. If a user selects a particular item, Epic presents them with 

various options, including the option to purchase the item, play the dance again, preview 

different outfit styles, or go back to the Item Shop. 

28. On mobile devices, the button to preview different outfit styles appears directly

below the button to purchase items, as shown in the screen capture below. To preview styles, 

players must tap the button labeled “PREVIEW STYLES” with their finger. But if in the process 

a player instead taps the adjacent button labeled “PURCHASE,” Epic immediately deducts the 

cost of the item from the player’s V-Bucks balance. 
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29. On video game controllers, the button to purchase items is located immediately 

adjacent to the buttons for other common in-game actions. For example, on the standard 

PlayStation controller (pictured below), the button to purchase an item (‘Square’ or ) is

located next to the buttons to take other common actions, such as to play a dance move again

(‘Triangle’ or ), go back to the previous screen (‘Circle’ or ), or preview different outfit 

styles (‘Cross’ or ), all of which are pressed using the same thumb. If while browsing an item

players accidentally bump the ‘Square’ button with their thumb, Epic immediately deducts the 

price of the item from their V-Bucks balance. 

30. The button to purchase items on video game consoles is also the same as the 

button associated with other actions that do not result in the user incurring a charge. For 
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example, the square button is used to change the style of an already purchased outfit in the 

Fortnite Locker. If a player wishes to preview different styles in the Item Shop and uses the same 

button the player would use to change styles in the Locker, Epic immediately deducts the cost of 

the item from the player’s V-Bucks balance.

31. In none of the scenarios just described does Epic require users to take any further 

action before charging them, such as asking them to confirm their purchase. By contrast, as 

discussed below, Epic requires users to press and hold a button in order to cancel unwanted 

charges and to confirm their request for a refund.

32. Players similarly can incur unwanted charges while browsing Battle Passes. For 

example, on PlayStation consoles, the button to purchase Cosmetics is ‘Square’ and the button to 

preview styles is ‘Cross.’ However, these buttons are inverted for Battle Passes. The button to 

purchase a Battle Pass is ‘Cross’ and the button to get more information is ‘Square.’ Prior to June 

2020, if a user wanted to get more information about a Battle Pass before purchasing it but 

clicked ‘Cross’ instead of ‘Square,’ Epic immediately deducted the cost of the pass from the 

player’s V-Bucks balance. It did not require users to take any further action before charging 

them, such as asking them to confirm the purchase. 

33. Numerous users have incurred unwanted charges from Epic while browsing items 

in Fortnite. Indeed, as an Epic Player Support representative acknowledged in an email to a 

consumer, “It is very common to make an accidental purchase!”

34. Epic has received more than one million complaints from consumers related to 

such unwanted charges. The following complaints are representative:

• “We are really disappointed that you are unable to help us as we feel my Sons V Buck 

accidental spend would have been avoided if your systems had more confirmation steps 

before buying items. Most other games companies have clear steps before you can 

purchase, e.g. item goes into basket, then questions asking ‘are you sure you want to 

purchase this?’, ‘Press this button to complete your purchase’. Your purchase process has 

none of these steps and we believe that it’s designed to take advantage of young users and 

accidental purchase.”

• “I’d like to raise a concern I have with the in-game store - there is no ‘confirm purchase’ 

button when you go to buy a skin/glider/axe....The reason I say this is because about 2 

months ago I accidentally misclicked ‘purchase’ on a glider I had no intentions of buying. 

It instantly just took the V-Bucks and that was that....”

• “As you know today the vintage Skull Trooper skin got released and was excited to buy 

it, however when I was flipping through the item shop I noticed the new Skull Sickle. I 

wanted to look at the different colors that were offered with this harvesting tool and 

instead of pressing ‘A’ to ‘Preview Styles’, I clicked ‘X’ and it automatically bought the 

pickax!!! There should be an extra step when buying things from the item shop because 

everything happened so fast. I would like a refund because I was going to use those extra 

V-Bucks for a different Halloween skin that hasn’t been released yet.”
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• “This was an accident made by a 9 year old, who immediately said, ‘Oh no Dad, I clicked

the wrong button.’ But because of your One-Click purchasing, and no ability to turn on

purchase confirmation or parental blocks for the item store, and a little promoted

unobtrusive limited time button to cancel, you are going to say that we are stuck with it.”

• “I accidentally purchased a skin using my V-Bucks when I just meant to rotate it and

check it out. Fat-fingered the ‘Square’ button on the PS4.”

35. Epic’s employees also have raised concerns about unwanted charges and

repeatedly recommended measures to address them. 

• In Spring 2018, Epic executives and managers discussed adding a confirm purchase

button to prevent accidental purchases. Though employees were concerned that “it is a bit

of a dark UX [user experience] pattern to not have confirmation on (once you hit [the

refund] limit) ‘destructive’ actions,” Epic feared that adding a confirmation button would

add “friction,” “result in a decent number of people second guessing their purchase,” and

reduce the number of “impulse purchases.”

• On May 4, 2018, an Epic UX designer working on the refund feature recommended that

Epic “also implement a split-second ‘Hold to Purchase’ mechanic when buying an

item[,]” which he believed “would reduce accidental purchases without adding friction.”

• On June 23, 2018, Epic’s Director of Player Support circulated a Player Support Status

Update that included a list of “Top Ticket Issues.” Number four on the list is: “Accidental

Purchase Claims - (around 6-7%) players are able to purchase items and battle pass tiers

without confirmation screens on PC and console. If we added confirmation screens for

these platforms, it would bring additional clarity and provide more safeguards for all.”

• On July 2, 2018, Epic’s Director of Player Support circulated another Player Support

Status Update that included a list of “Top Ticket Issues.” Number 5 on the list is:

“Accidental Purchase Claims – same as previously mentioned. Additional confirmation

screens with the ability to bypass with a 1-click option that you must explicitly setup the

first time could be a solution. [Player Support] recommends offering players both

options, similar to Amazon before setting up 1-click.”

• On July 20, 2018, an Epic Community Coordinator asked if there were any plans to add a

confirmation step for in-game purchases, noting: “This is actually a huge complaints on

our side and could remove most of the ‘excuses’ about accidental purchase: ‘I wanted to

press Replay, my PS4 was in sleep mode’, etc. This is something I wanted to push

forward but didn’t have time to build a real case around, has this already been discussed

in the past?”

• On October 10, 2018, the same Community Coordinator emailed Epic’s Lead of Online

Gameplay Systems “to check if anything is happening around this topic.” He further

stated: “We still have regular complaints that we are not asking for confirmation before
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purchasing and that players have to use refund tickets or are out of tickets because of a 

button push. It’s especially the case on controllers when getting the console out of sleep 

or hitting the ‘replay’ option on emotes.” 

• On March 8, 2019, Epic’s Lead of Online Gameplay Systems recommended that Epic 

add a confirmation button for in-game purchases. In support of this recommendation, he 

noted, “I know I personally play on Switch and I am VERY careful when I am in the 

shop to the extent I am a little paranoid of bumping the controller and I am spending free 

v-bucks.” 

• In April 2019, the Community Coordinator noted that “[o]n social media the 

confirmation button is highly requested, especially for PS4.” According to the email, 

“some of [the complaints] refer to various issues, such as buying while in a loading 

screen (I think pressing buttons during a loading screen and the game still taking the 

command at the end of the loading screen), mistake made to preview styles (some players 

reports the button to view style in the locker and in the shop are different), or simple 

button press mistakes.”

36. Despite these repeated complaints and recommendations from customers and 

employees, Epic continues to charge users for in-game items without their authorization. It only 

started requiring an additional step (beyond pressing a single button) for one type of item (Battle 

Passes) in or around June 2020 – three years after Epic began billing consumers for in-game 

charges, and also after learning that it was under investigation by the FTC. For all other items 

(i.e., Cosmetics and Llamas), it continues to charge users based on the press of a single button.

Epic Uses Dark Patterns to Deter Users from Cancelling or Requesting Refunds for VBucks Charges

37. Epic has never allowed users to cancel or undo charges for Battle Passes or 

Llamas and did not begin allowing users to cancel Cosmetics charges until June 2019. Even then, 

Epic uses design tricks, sometimes referred to as “dark patterns,” to deter consumers from

cancelling or requesting refunds for unauthorized V-Bucks charges. 

38. In June 2019, Epic began allowing users to cancel Cosmetics charges, but only for 

a limited time and only if they remained on the purchase screen. Initially, an “Undo” button

appeared on the user’s screen in the same area as the “Get V-Bucks” button, as shown below. 
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39. However, after numerous players used the “Undo” button to cancel unwanted 

charges – “‘I accidentally purchased an item I did not want’ was the number one ‘reason’ for 

using the ‘Undo’ button[,]” according to an Epic customer survey – Epic took steps to reduce its 

prominence. Specifically, as shown below, Epic changed the name of the button to “Cancel

Purchase,” reduced the size of the button, moved it to the bottom of the screen, and required

consumers to push and hold a button on their controller (even though Epic does not require 

consumers to do so to purchase items in the first place). 
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40. After making these changes, Epic “observed a roughly 35% decline in the net 

undo-rate (% of undo-eligible purchases that result in an undo that is not followed by a repurchase),” according to an email from a Senior Product Manager. 

41. Consumers have complained that they did not see the option to cancel due to 

Epic’s efforts to obscure it. For example, in September 2019, a parent emailed Epic Player 

Support to complain about an unauthorized charge incurred while his 9-year-old was playing 

Fortnite and to request a refund. After Player Support responded by explaining Epic’s refund 

policy (discussed below), he responded: “I have already used my refund tokens, I used them 

before you implemented the cancel purchase button. You know the button that I never saw any 

big announcement about, the button that is small and unobtrusive, that because of your refund 

tokens I didn’t know was there.” 

42. Epic also imposes strict limitations on refunds. Epic does not refund charges for 

Battle Passes or Llamas, and refunds Cosmetics charges only in some cases. Moreover, since 

June 2018, Epic has restricted users to a lifetime maximum of three refunds per account. Epic 

tracks users’ refunds by issuing them tokens when they create an account. Many consumers have 

reported using all of their refund tokens and therefore not being able to obtain a refund for 

unauthorized charges billed by Epic. Prior to June 2018, consumers could not request a refund 

through the Fortnite app but had to complete a form on Epic’s website. 

43. In addition, Epic deliberately requires consumers to find and navigate a difficult 

and lengthy path to request a refund through the Fortnite app. To start, Epic hid the link to 

submit a refund request under the “Settings” tab on the Fortnite app menu, far removed from the 

purchase screen, even though requesting a refund is not a game or device setting. The Epic user 

experience (“UX”) designer who helped design the refund request path reported that he put the 

link there in an “attempt to obfuscate the existence of the feature” and that “not a single player 

found this option in the most recent round of UX testing.” When the designer asked whether he 

should make the feature easier to find, he was told by a superior, “it is perfect where it is at.” 

44. Even if consumers locate the refund request path, Epic forces them to navigate 

several unnecessary steps to submit the request. For example, Epic requires consumers to supply 

a reason for their refund request (even though Epic permits account holders to use their three 

lifetime refunds for any reason) and to confirm their intent to request a refund (even though Epic 

does not require users to confirm their intent to purchase items in the first instance). The Epic 

UX designer referred to this strategy of discouraging consumers from requesting refunds by 

requiring consumers to take multiple unnecessary steps as “add[ing] friction for friction’s sake.”

Epic Denies Consumers Access to Their Fortnite Accounts for Disputing Epic’s 

Unauthorized Charges

45. When consumers incur fraudulent or unauthorized charges to their credit cards, 

they have the right to dispute the charges through their financial institutions and request that the 

money be charged back to the company that initiated the charge. See Fair Credit Billing Act, 

15 U.S.C. § 1666, et seq. This process commonly is referred to as a “chargeback.”

46. Since July 2017, Epic has received tens of thousands of chargebacks, totaling 
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millions of dollars. In fact, Epic received so many chargebacks from consumers that Visa and 

Mastercard placed Epic in their respective chargeback monitoring programs, threatening Epic’s 

ability to process consumer payments through the networks going forward. 

47. Since at least February 2018, when consumers have disputed Epic’s unauthorized 

charges with their credit card companies and asked that they be charged back, Epic has 

deactivated their Fortnite accounts regardless of the reason for the dispute or whether it was 

upheld. 

48. Consumers’ Fortnite accounts store all Fortnite content they have ever purchased. 

Thus, consumers whose accounts Epic has banned have not only lost access to the Fortnite 

content that was the subject of the billing dispute, but also all content they have ever purchased 

on that account. Epic has not refunded consumers for this previously paid-for content, which for 

some consumers has totaled hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Only if consumers have 

contacted Epic, and Epic has determined that there is no risk of fraud, has Epic agreed to 

reactivate consumers’ accounts. Even then, they have only agreed to do so one time. If 

consumers dispute another fraudulent or unauthorized charge, Epic permanently bans them 

without refunding them for their paid-for content.

49. Consumers have been unaware of Epic’s practice of denying them access to paidfor content for initiating chargebacks. To the extent Epic mentions depriving consumers of 

content, it buries such information in its Terms of Service, End User License Agreement, or on 

its website, and even then, makes no mention of depriving access to paid-for content for 

disputing unauthorized charges with their bank or credit card provider. 

50. Epic has received at least thousands of complaints from consumers whose 

accounts were banned due to chargebacks. 

51. Despite these complaints, Epic continues to deactivate the accounts of consumers 

who dispute Epic’s unauthorized charges with their credit card companies.

52. Based on the facts and violations of law alleged in this Complaint, the FTC has 

reason to believe that Respondent is violating or is about to violate laws enforced by the 

Commission. 

VIOLATIONS OF THE FTC ACT

53. Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a), prohibits “unfair or deceptive acts 

or practices in or affecting commerce.”

54. Acts or practices are unfair under Section 5 of the FTC Act if they cause or are 

likely to cause substantial injury to consumers that consumers cannot reasonably avoid 

themselves and that is not outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or competition. 

15 U.S.C. § 45(n).

Count I
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Unfair Billing

55. In numerous instances, Respondent has charged consumers without having

obtained consumers’ express informed consent. 

56. Respondent’s actions as described in Paragraph 55 have caused or are likely to

cause substantial injury to consumers that consumers cannot reasonably avoid themselves and 

that is not outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or competition. 

57. Therefore, Respondent’s acts or practices as set forth in Paragraph 55 constitute

unfair acts or practices in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a) and (n).

Count II 

Unfair Denial of Account Access

58. In numerous instances, Respondent has denied consumers access to their Fortnite

accounts for disputing unauthorized charges. 

59. Respondent’s actions as described in Paragraph 58 have caused or are likely to

cause substantial injury to consumers that consumers cannot reasonably avoid themselves and 

that is not outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or competition. 

60. Therefore, Respondent’s acts or practices as set forth in Paragraph 58 constitute

unfair acts or practices in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a) and (n).

61. The acts and practices of Respondent as alleged in this Complaint constitute

unfair or deceptive acts or practices, in or affecting commerce, in violation of Section 5(a) of the 

Federal Trade Commission Act. 

THEREFORE, the Federal Trade Commission this _______ day of _______, 20__, has 

issued this Complaint against Respondent. 

By the Commission. 

April J. Tabor 

Secretary

SEAL: