Epic Games to pay $245M for tricking users into making unwanted charges
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Re: Epic Games to pay $245M for tricking users into making unwanted charges
#2>Under the FTC’s order, Epic must pay $245 million, which will be used to provide refunds to consumers. The order also prohibits Epic from charging consumers through the use of dark patterns or from otherwise charging consumers without obtaining their affirmative consent. Additionally, the order bars Epic from blocking consumers from accessing their accounts for disputing unauthorized charges.
Too bad there aren’t punitive damages. Hopefully this action by the FTC chills other businesses that use dark patterns or ban users for charge backs. Not offering competent customer service is a liability not a cost savings.
Re: Epic Games to pay $245M for tricking users into making unwanted charges
#3> Additionally, the order bars Epic from blocking consumers from accessing their accounts for disputing unauthorized charges.
I really wish more companies were required to still allow account access after disputing a credit card charge.
Re: Epic Games to pay $245M for tricking users into making unwanted charges
#4Does anyone here know exactly what these patterns are?
Re: Epic Games to pay $245M for tricking users into making unwanted charges
#5> Additionally, the order bars Epic from blocking consumers from accessing their accounts for disputing unauthorized charges.
This could be bigger than people realize. This is very common in many tech companies like Uber/Doordash/Sony/etc. where if you do a chargeback, you often get blacklisted on their service. It would be amazing if this starts to end this practice, and you can actually have authority to get your money back from your credit card and not be penalized by the service for it when they refuse to actually help.
Re: Epic Games to pay $245M for tricking users into making unwanted charges
#6That's the second time now I read about Epic Games paying a fine for doing something obviously shady and illegal. I slowly get the impression that Epic Games might be a bit more scammy than your average company.
Re: Epic Games to pay $245M for tricking users into making unwanted charges
#7Does anyone here know exactly what these patterns are?
I play Fortnite so I can answer. Basically purchase in Fortnite was instant. You clicked/touched on the button > you bought it instantly. There were no confirmation screens, no "are you sure" etc nothing. One click purchase. And cancellation was very limited, basically non existent. Credit cards were also saved instantly so no further interaction needed for later purchases, so some kids ended up spending a lot without their parents knowledge at all.
There are more examples here about the patterns https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2022/12/245-milli...
They already changed the system like half a year ago, guess they knew about the penalty back then https://www.fortnite.com/news/updates-to-fortnite-purchase-c...
Now for every purchase you have to hold the buy button for several seconds. You can't click/touch accidentally. Plus there is a proper refund system now.
Re: Epic Games to pay $245M for tricking users into making unwanted charges
#8That's the second time now I read about Epic Games paying a fine for doing something obviously shady and illegal. I slowly get the impression that Epic Games might be a bit more scammy than your average company.
What you said, and what I'm retorting with requires data, lots of it. But my understanding is that given unchecked power in a domain, almost all of them do the same.
Re: Epic Games to pay $245M for tricking users into making unwanted charges
#9> 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 pattern to not have confirmation on ‘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.”
> 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.
> 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?”
> 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.”
Many more examples in this complaint doc: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/1923203EpicGame...
Re: Epic Games to pay $245M for tricking users into making unwanted charges
#10[deleted]