Fortnite has been found to utilize dark patterns to get money out of its players previously, so the allegations that its developer Epic Games is using timers to deceive players into item shop purchases probably won’t surprise anyone. Still, this is a planned lawsuit filing and not a firm decision, hence copious use of the word “allegedly” in this matter.
The proposed class action lawsuit, which originates with two affected parents, accuses Epic of at one point putting up fake countdown timers for item shop discounts or specific offerings in order to instill a sense of scarcity and incite FOMO in players; the would-be plaintiffs allege that items or sales that have a ticking clock don’t actually change in price or availability “for many days or even weeks at a time” after the timer reaches zero. In the world of dark patterns, this is called the “fake urgency” trick.
An Epic Games spokesperson provided a statement to Polygon about the suit, claiming that it contains “factual errors,” pointing out that its timer was replaced with a rotation date for items last year along with “industry leading parental controls” such as a lockdown of real-money purchases for accounts of children under 13 unless authorized by a parent or guardian – protection that most gamers know is incredibly easy to circumvent.
The plaintiffs bring up prior counts leveraged against Epic Games in its filing, including breach of several consumer protection acts in the states of California, Texas, and North Carolina. The initial filing not only seeks to create a class action claim but is demanding a jury trail in its case. Whether it finds more members for the class to push it forward or not is an open question, but in the meantime,
Worth noting is that the FTC fined Epic Games $245M a few years ago over use of multiple dark patterns in its payment system that enabled kids to overspend with no checks on the credit card and no refunds.
