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A father and his son claim that the makers of the game Fortnite use manipulative tactics to encourage players, especially minors, to make in-game purchases.
Plaintiff Steve Altes says that his son, R.A., is a minor who plays the popular video game Fortnite.
Fortnite is an “open-world survival video game in which players collect weapons, tools, and resources, also commonly referred to as loot, in order to survive and advance in the game.”
According to Altes, “loot” is acquired either by earning points in the game or by using real-world money to make in-game purchases.
The Fortnite in-game purchases class action lawsuit claims that Fortnite preys on minors and their inability to make good judgements and exercise self-control around money.
This allegedly has led Fortnite to gain exorbitant prices just from in-game purchases. Altes notes at Fornite has gained $1 billion in profits just from in-game purchases.
To support this claim, Altes cites experts, including UNC Healthcare pediatrician Jeffrey Ryan who notes that “kids younger than 12 cannot regulate themselves because they don’t have the frontal lobe capacity to do so.”
The Fortnite class action lawsuit goes on to say that this lack of regulation can cause “addictive tendencies where a child cannot set limits or stop certain behaviors.”
Allegedly, Epic Games Inc. takes advantage of this to encourage children to spend their own money and their parents’ money on purchases as they move through the game.
The plaintiff says these in-game purchases are in many cases, the key to enabling a player to advance through the game, so the motivation to make these purchases is strong.
Altes claims that Epic uses a range of other psychological tactics to entice consumers into making in-game purchases. Allegedly, the in-game purchases are made using a fake currency — V bucks, which are purchased with real money, and customers are not able to track how much they spend on in-game purchases.
The Fortnite class action states that the fake currency that is used in the game results in players, mostly children, feeling like they are not spending real money, when, in fact, they are.
Additionally, Altes says that V-bucks do not translate equally to real dollars, so their amounts are sometimes deceptive to discern.
V-bucks purchases are made in amounts that reportedly do not correlate to the price of in-game purchases, so customers continue to not have enough V-bucks to make a purchase when given the opportunity, so they continually have to purchase more V-bucks to make use of extra V-bucks that they have after a purchase.
Epic Games Inc. is also faced with another class action lawsuit, in which players allege that they were injured by a data breach that took place in the summer of 2018.
R.A. and Altes are represented by Daniel L. Warshaw, Melissa S. Weiner, and Alexander L. Simon of Pearson Simon & Warshaw LLP, and by Jeffrey Kaliel and Sophia Gold of Kaliel PLLC.
The Fortnite In-Game Purchases Class Action Lawsuit is R.A., et al. v. Epic Games Inc., Case No. 2:19-cv-01488-GW-E, in the U.S. District Court for the Central Division of California, Western Division.
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623 thoughts onFortnite Class Action Says Minors Lured Into In-Game Purchases
Yes my son spends alot of my money on this game!! Add me!!
Please add me to this. My son is always buying things for this game and insists he can’t get any further if he doesn’t. I thought that was just him trying to get one over on me but I see now he wasn’t. Very irritating that they take advantage of kids like this.
My son is 10 and has spend lots of money off my card
Add me!
Please add me my 12 year old put $1200 on my credit card for these V bucks this is crazy and the raging he does is crazy breaks studf alot of xbox one controllers holes in my walla this is crazy im a single mom of 3 with him being the oldest i have 2 in diapers an he maxed out my credit card .
sign me up asap. not a weekend passes that my 10 year old son bugs me about something I had never heard of. “V bucks”.
EPIC should be ashamed of doing this to our youth, and yes, they should pay.
Our son has spent a mere fortune on all this bologny for nothing. Its all feeding his gaming addiction. We are sick of it and something needs to be done. If he steals our debit card or anyone elses to buy this garbage Ima have him commited. This is what Fortnite has done to our youth. Please count me in!
My grandson charged money on our cards he had no idea the rip off of these vbucks and gets so angry when we cannot purchase. Add me
My grandson is totally addicted to this game. Charged money on husba d’s credit card.
Thousands and thousands lost over my 10 year old ..and now 11 year old .
He has no idea what the value of these v bucks are and has caused an obsessive compulsive disorder along with rage when not being able to buy something . Have been triple charged several times and PlayStation will not refund or allow you to disputes with your bank without them deleting the kids entire account . This is black male in my opinion and I am opening a suit against them too . PlayStation that is
Please add me to the Fortnite suit asap
Thank you
Please add me to lawsuit