Here’s Who’s Eligible For The Fortnite FTC Settlement Refunds

A Fortnite character gestures to a bunch of money.

Image: New Africa / Epic Games / Kotaku (Shutterstock)

Good news, everyone: now Fortnite can pay you. After a spat with the FTC wherein Epic Games settled for $245 million dollars, the Federal Trade Commission has launched a webpage for eligible Fortnite players to get some money back.

In December of 2022, Fortnite developers Epic Games and the FTC settled over allegations that the video game company ran afoul of the Children’s Online Privacy Act. Signed into law in 2000, the act seeks to protect children under 13, specifically where it concerns marketing tactics and privacy. The FTC accused Epic Games of using “design tricks, known as dark patterns, to dupe millions of players into making unintentional purchases.” The $245 million payout marks the FTC’s “largest refund amount in a gaming case, and its largest administrative order in history.”

The FTC also required Epic Games to “adopt strong privacy default settings for children and teens, ensuring that voice and text communications are turned off by default.”

Who’s eligible and how much cash can you get from the Fortnite settlement?

The FTC laid out three broad categories for folks eligible to receive some money from the Fortnite settlement:

• You were charged in-game currency for items you didn’t want between January 2017 and September 2022

• Your child made charges to your credit card without your knowledge between January 2017 and November 2018

• Your account was locked between January 2017 and September 2022 after you complained to your credit card company about wrongful charges

As stated on the FTC’s website, the specific dollar amount of each payout is yet to be determined as it “will depend on several factors, including how many people file a claim.”

Additionally, the FTC doesn’t have a set date for when payments are likely to be issued, though it promises an update to the claims page. All claims must be filed by January 17, 2024, and you’ll need to be at least 18 years old (or have a parent or guardian complete the form for you) and must have a valid Epic Account ID (in addition to meeting the criteria listed above).

Here’s Your First Look At Multiplayer

Today’s Call of Duty Next event gave us a solid look at what’s around the corner for the ongoing milsim franchise. Modern Warfare III launches on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Windows on November 10. PlayStation gamers who’ve pre-ordered the game will be able to participate in a multiplayer beta this weekend. Xbox and PC betas will go live on October 12 and 13.

Pre-order Modern Warfare III: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop

Modern Warfare III features complete remakes of 16 multiplayer maps from the original Modern Warfare 2. It also includes the return of techniques like slide- and reload-cancelling.

The enormous weapon selection in MWIII’s multiplayer was touted today, described as the largest ever in CoD multiplayer. MWIII includes all the weapons players have unlocked from 2022’s MWII, plus more than 30 new guns and attachments. This is in addition to operators and weapon camos. So, yes, as was said during the event, you’ll still be able to play as Nicki Minaj.

Tac-stance gives you an in-between aiming option between tradiional ADS and hip fire.
Gif: Activision / Kotaku

The event also showed off some live, 6v6 multiplayer gameplay across five reimagined maps from Modern Warfare 2, including Rust, High Rise, Estate and Favela. The team said that the original layout of these maps has been reproduced as much as possible, so many familiar sight-lines return.

The team added that some adjustments have been made to accommodate for MWIII’s more advanced movement set, such as taller mantling and slide cancelling.

MWIII will also feature three 32v32 Ground War maps, in addition to the return of War Mode.

Modern Warfare III will also see new 6v6 maps added to the game with each season. Seasons one and two are expected to see three new map additions respectively.

With all these maps on offer, and many more to come, the return of map voting ought to help prioritize fan favorites.

Perks are now split up across boots, gloves, and gear. Classic perks will return to the game, just within these categories. The team wanted to make equipping perks feel less like an abstract numerical change and more like an actual piece of equipment that changes up your gameplay style.

MWIII features 150 health across all players, matching that of Warzone. Damage to specific areas, such as headshots, will come with a damage modifier.

Tac-Stance is another new addition to MWIII. It was described as a combination between aim-down-sights and hip fire. The annoucers described it as like splitting the difference between an assault rifle and an SMG. In practice, it looks very similar to the side-mounted sights. On gamepad, you’ll hit down on the d-pad to activate this stance.

Other changes to the gameplay include faster mantle animations while you’re tac sprinting. Players are also able to equip different kinds of vests that’ll change up which perk categories they can equip.

There’ll be a choice of four different vests during the beta, each of which carries gameplay augmentations. The infantry vest, for instance, boosts tac-sprint regeneration.

Pre-order Modern Warfare III: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop