Fortnite's creator will pay a record $520 million FTC fine over allegations it took kid's private data and put them in danger

• Epic Games, which created hit video game Fortnite, was hit with a record-breaking $520 million fine to the FTC.
• The FTC alleged that the company violated a decades-old act protecting children's privacy.

Epic Games, which created the popular video game Fortnite, will have to pay a record-breaking $520 million fine for allegedly violating children's privacy, the Federal Trade Commission announced on Monday.

In two separate settlements, Epic Games will have to pay a $275 million penalty for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and another $245 million for tricking Fortnite users into making unwanted purchases, the FTC said in a statement.

In a federal complaint filed in a North Carolina court, the FTC alleged that Epic Games violated COPPA — a decades-old privacy requirement — by collecting data from Fortnite users younger than 13 without telling their parents or getting consent.

The FTC also alleged that because Epic Games had text and voice communications turned on by default, and the company would match younger users with total strangers, "children and teens have been bullied, threatened, harassed, and exposed to dangerous and psychologically traumatizing issues such as suicide while on Fortnite."

Meanwhile, in a separate complaint, the FTC alleged that Epic Games tricked Fortnite users into making unwanted purchases by using "illegal dark patterns." These practices included having a confusing layout of buttons, leading to charges at the press of a button, allowing charges without parental consent, and locking accounts of people who disputed the unwanted charges.

The FTC said in its statement that Epic Games employees have, for several years, expressed their concerns about these features to the company.

"Epic put children and teens at risk through its lax privacy practices, and cost consumers millions in illegal charges through its use of dark patterns," said Samuel Levine, who is the director the FTC's bureau of consumer protection, in the statement. "Under the proposed orders announced today, the company will be required to change its default settings, return millions to consumers, and pay a record-breaking penalty for its privacy abuses."

Epic Games responded to the FTC settlement by publishing its own statement on Monday, saying it "accepted this agreement because we want Epic to be at the forefront of consumer protection and provide the best experience for our players."

"No developer creates a game with the intention of ending up here," the company said.

The FTC settlement comes shortly after a Canadian Supreme Court judge authorized a lawsuit earlier this month against Epic Games. Quebec parents alleged in the suit that their children are addicted to Fortnite.