Beginning January 30, Fortnite players using the August 2020 13.40 app build previously available on iOS, Mac, and Google Play can no longer spend V-Bucks and must be over 18 to play.
Epic Games, the creator of the popular video game, is making this change due to the US Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) $520 million settlement in December 2020 over allegations that the company violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and deployed design tricks, known as dark patterns, to dupe millions of players into making unintentional purchases. The FTC also said that Epic must pay a $275 million penalty, change default privacy settings, and pay $245 million in refunds.
To comply with the FTC’s settlement, Epic cannot update the app on these platforms due to Apple and Google’s restrictions on Fortnite. Despite this, the company has still managed to make over $9 billion during its first two years.
Fortnite tweeted, “We want all versions of our games to use the current suite of Epic Online Services including parental controls, purchasing defaults, and parental verification features.”
