NEW YORK – U.S. consumers who were tricked into making purchases they didn’t want from Fortnite maker Epic Games are now receiving refund checks, the Federal Trade Commission said this week.

In 2022, Epic agreed to pay a total of $520 million to resolve complaints related to children’s privacy and payment methods for its popular Fortnite game. The FTC alleged that the video game giant used deceptive online design tactics to trick Fortnite players, including children, into making unintended purchases “based on the press of a single button.”

Consumers could be charged for things like trying to wake the game from sleep mode or by pressing a nearby button when trying to preview an item, the agency said. The FTC also accused Epic of denying some users who disputed the fees access to the content they purchased.

Aside from a $275 million fine related to the collection of personal information from players under the age of 13, the settlement also included $245 million in customer refunds. Now the first batch of these refunds is being sent out.

On Monday, the FTC said it is sending over 629,000 payments to eligible customers who have filed claims. About half of these refunds are PayPal payments that should clear within 30 days, and the rest are checks that should clear within 90 days.

The average refund is about $114, the FTC found. This first round of payments totals more than $72 million, according to the agency, leaving about $173 million left to distribute.

Affected consumers can still request a refund online. Those eligible for these payouts include Fortnite players who were charged in-game currency for items they didn’t want or had their accounts suspended after complaining about unlawful charges to a credit card company between January 2017 and September 2022 had complained – as well as parents whose child made debits to their credit card between January 2018 and November 2018 without their knowledge.

For more information about requesting a refund, visit the FTC website. The deadline to file a claim is January 10, 2025.

When the settlement was announced in December 2022, Epic said it accepted the agreement because it “wanted to be at the forefront of consumer protection and provide the best experience for our players.” The Cary, North Carolina-based company added that it is already implementing changes “to ensure our ecosystem meets the expectations of our players and regulators, which will hopefully be a helpful guide for others in our industry.”