Written by Dante Uzel on 14 May 2024 17:36
The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has imposed a fine of €1,125k on Epic Games for employing "unfair commercial practices" targeting children in Fortnite. Following an investigation, the ACM concluded that Epic Games took advantage of children's vulnerabilities through certain design choices in its item shop. This included the use of coercive language such as "get it now" or "buy now" in advertisements, deemed as an "illegal aggressive commercial practice" by the ACM. For this violation, Epic Games was fined €562k.
Additionally, the investigation revealed the use of countdown timers on advertisements for items that remained available in the shop even after the countdown elapsed. The ACM considered this tactic as exploiting children's fear of missing out by suggesting scarcity of items that were actually still purchasable. Epic Games incurred another fine of €562k for this violation.
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Epic Games stated "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."
Tags: Epic Games Fined
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