Posted on Jan 1, 2023 7:19 am
Epic Games pays dearly: Consumers are “better protected in the USA than in Switzerland”
Epic Games, the publisher of the Fortnite game, has to pay $520 million after lawsuits from consumer advocates in the United States. In Switzerland, the parliament is beginning to deal with the issue.
The deal saves Epic Games further legal action.
Getty Images via AFP
“It was only when my credit card reached the limit that I realized it”: A father from German-speaking Switzerland testified to a mishap when his son managed to connect to his PayPal account to make purchases (microtransactions) in video games , including Fortnite. His ten-year-old son spent a total of 600 francs.
The father testified after learning of the hefty $520 million that Fortnite game publisher Epic Games pledged in mid-December following lawsuits from the US Federal Trade Commission. Half goes to the FTC and addresses questions about underage gamers’ private data, the other half is paid out in the form of refunds to “victims” of in-game micropayments.
These microtransactions in video games are often made possible by “dark patterns”, manipulative interfaces, and techniques designed to trick users into either subtly following programs or almost unknowingly spending money on things they didn’t originally want them to do .
Parliament is beginning to take an interest in it
The French Consumers’ Federation (FRC) is also following this dossier. After announcing the settlement between Epic Games and the FTC, she responded by stating that “consumers are better protected in the US than in Switzerland”. The issue surrounding the Fortnite case has been dealt with in Parliament, but the work is still in its infancy.
Regarding the question of “dark patterns”, the Secretary General of the FRC Sophie Michaud Gigon (Vert-es/VD) introduced a postulate that wants to commission the Federal Council to write a report on the “documentation of the fog” and to say whether the current legislation will be adjusted will. The Federal Council recommended rejection, and the National Council decided in favor of it last June.
As for microtransactions, the phenomenon could have been incorporated into the recent federal law on the protection of minors in the film and video game industry, which was attacked by a referendum whose deadline for collecting signatures is about to end. The National Council wanted to include provisions on microtransactions in the law, but the Council of States did not. Finally, the bill leaves aside the question that must come up again later.
Epic Games is making amends
“No developer creates a game with the intention of getting there,” admitted Epic Games in its statement after the agreement with the American agency. “We accepted this agreement because we want Epic to be at the forefront of consumer protection and to provide the best experience for our players,” says the publisher, adding that he’s made necessary changes over the past few years. “We don’t want players paying for something they don’t want to,” says Epic Games. A ‘rollback’ system is now possible and safeguards have been put in place to ensure every purchase is approved.