The maker of the popular video game Fortnite, Epic Games, agreed to pay a US$520 million ($709,072,000) settlement regarding claims the developer violated child privacy laws and duped players into making accidental in-game purchases.⁠ ⁠ The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a statement Monday explaining the record-breaking settlement will be paid in two parts. Epic agreed to pay $275 million for collecting the personal information of children under 13 without a parent’s consent, and another $245 million over unwanted consumer charges.⁠ ⁠ According to the FTC, Fortnite, which is a highly popular interactive battle royale game, invaded the online privacy of children and teenagers — who make up a large portion of the game’s player base. ⁠ ⁠ The government watchdog claimed minors were exposed to bullying, harassment and traumatizing issues such as suicide through the game’s automatic text and voice chat features.⁠ ⁠ The real-time chat feature was automatically enabled in the game’s settings. As a result of the FTC settlement, Epic has agreed to change privacy settings for minors, including keeping the chat disabled by default.⁠ ⁠ The FTC statement also claimed Fortnite players — of which there are 400 million globally — were faced with “counterintuitive, inconsistent, and confusing” controls that caused millions of players to make unintentional purchases. This deceptive practice is known as “dark patterns” and reportedly earned Fortnite hundreds of millions of dollars in unauthorized charges.⁠ ⁠ Though Fortnite is free to download, developers make money from in-game purchases for add-ons like character skins and dance moves.⁠ ⁠ Epic neither confirmed nor denied the FTC’s allegations but published a statement on its website.⁠ ⁠ Click the link in the @GlobalNews bio to read more⁠