Fortnite video game maker to pay $520m over privacy and billing claims

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said that it had secured the record-breaking settlements for two cases from Epic Games, which makes the popular game Fortnite.

Epic Games agreed to pay a $275m fine for collecting personal information on Fortnite players under the age of 13 without informing their parents or getting their consent.

It is the biggest penalty ever issued for breaking an FTC rule.

Dark patterns are deceptive online techniques used to nudge users into doing things they did not intend to do.

Players could, for example, be charged while trying to wake the game from sleep mode, while the game was in a loading screen, or by pressing a nearby button when simply trying to preview an item, it said.