With Chapter 5 Season 3 quickly approaching, Fortnite maker Epic Games has been hit with a hefty fine. This fine is linked to some alleged violations on the game’s store, and the studio has until June 10, 2024, to rectify these violations.
Epic Games refuses to accept this, claiming that the repercussions of such a penalty will adversely affect the gaming experience. They state that they will lodge an objection. However, the fact that an objection will be lodged does not absolve them of their obligation to impose some restrictions for players in the Netherlands, at least for now.
Netherlands Fines Epic Games for Allegedly Pressuring Fortnite Players Under the Age of 18
The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) fined Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, €1,125,000 for allegedly pressuring Fortnite players under the age of 18 through ads to purchase skins in the game’s Item Shop. This fine is the total sum of fines imposed for two different violations.
ACM’s research determined that folks under 18 were encouraged to shop in the game’s Item Shop with phrases like ‘Get it now’ or ‘Buy now’. The authority considers such ads that directly encourage kids to make purchases to be an illegal and offensive business practice in all circumstances. As a result, the studio was fined €562,500 for this violation.
ACM also detected that such timers in the Item Shop created a sense of scarcity in kids and were used to pressure them into making quick purchasing decisions. The report even highlighted that some items were still available even after the timer reached zero. The authority fined the studio another €562,500 for these misleading tactics.
Fortnite will begin showing the dates for when each cosmetics will rotate out of the Item Shop with the launch of Chapter 5 – Season 3 on May 24th, 2024.
— iFireMonkey (@iFireMonkey) May 14, 2024
Starting with this change, players in the Netherlands that are under the age of 18 will not be able to see or purchase items… pic.twitter.com/P6avHHljlu
Yeah, this is definitely a serious issue for Epic Games, and the studio announced that some measures were taken immediately after this statement was made. First of all, the studio states that it does not accept this fine and will appeal. It also continues to insist that these findings will lead to changes that will lead to a poor experience for fans.
Starting on May 24, 2024, Epic Games will only be able to offer items to players under the age of 18 in the Netherlands if they remain available in the Item Shop for 48 hours or more. This means that kids will not be able to see or purchase items that are available for less than 48 hours.
Will There Be Any Other Changes in Fortnite’s Item Shop?
The company announced that it has made some updates to the Item Shop in addition to the measures taken specifically for the Netherlands. These updates include stuff like removing all countdown timers from the worldwide Item Shop.
Other Item Shop changes announced by Epic Games are:
- Removing the Item Shop timer to instead display the player’s local time when the Item Shop will refresh and items may leave the Shop
- Removing tiers and colors of cosmetics in the Item Shop
- Adding the date that an item will rotate out of the shop to the Item Description on May 24, 2024
Every country has its own laws, and every company operating within those borders is expected to comply with them. First and foremost, the decision made by the ACM in the Netherlands does not affect other countries, and for now, Epic Games will not apply its country-specific rules in other regions.
What do you think about this difficult situation with Epic Games? Let us know in the comments what you think!
