Violations of child protection – this means the record fine for the “Fortnite” developers – News


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For violations of children’s and data protection laws, the “Fortnite” manufacturer Epic Games pays a fine of over 520 million US dollars in the USA. Experts classify the decision and the potential for addiction of the video game for children and young people.

The US consumer protection agency FTC accuses Epic Games of having collected personal data from “Fortnite” users under the age of 13 – without parental consent. In addition, the video game developer is said to have misled users into unintentional transactions and exposed young people to dangers on the Internet by allowing voice and text messages from strangers. Epic Games and the FTC have therefore agreed on a fine of 520 million US dollars.

Epic Games has a market value of almost $30 billion, so the $520 million doesn’t matter that much.

According to SRF digital editor Jürg Tschirren, the fine is the largest so far in such a case. However, Epic Games is said to have earned more than nine billion dollars with the game in the first two years alone. This year, the profit from the “Fortnite” developer is estimated at over six billion. “Epic Games has a market value of almost $30 billion, so the $520 million doesn’t matter that much,” he says.

How «Fortnite» works


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“Fortnite is a so-called survival or battle royale shooter game,” explains SRF digital editor Jürg Tschirren. “That means: In the Battle Royale mode, up to 100 players compete against each other alone or in teams and try to eliminate each other by shooting at each other. If an opponent is killed, you can take over their weapons and other objects – for example means to heal your own character. You can also use materials found in the game to create structures to protect your character. The player or team that is still alive at the end wins.”

The game, released in 2017, is approved for ages 12 and up and is particularly popular in the free Battle Royale mode.

In fact, the popular “Fortnite” video game is said to contain mechanisms that tempt players to spend money even if they didn’t want to, confirms Tschirren. “Fortnite and many other main free games rely on so-called dark pattern designs,” explains Tschirren.

These are functions and mechanisms that tempt you to do things you don’t want to do. For example, by having a reject button colored red and an accept button green, so that you reflexively click on «Accept».

A game with «addictive potential»

Sonja Keller is the mother of a 15-year-old son. Two years ago, at the age of 13, he started playing «Fortnite». The addictive potential of the game is enormous, she says. “It went so far that my son put all the Christmas and god money into the game – at least 400 francs.”

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Her son played at night so she wouldn’t notice – until she blocked the internet on his devices at night. Finally, she turned on a psychologist and blocked the account. “In all games there should be a parental setting that in-app purchases have to be approved,” says Sonja Keller.

In addition, the protection of minors is not guaranteed from their point of view. “The people in the game do not have to transparently state how old they are – it can be a young person, but also an adult in the chat.” She finds this questionable in terms of pedophilia.

Present parents are in demand

“Chat rooms with children and adults where nobody is in charge are problematic per se,” confirms psychologist Karl Brühwiler. But the contact between young people in the live chat of the game is also problematic because the inhibition threshold is small to take out one’s own frustration on others.

Brühwiler appeals to the parents: “I advise parents that they deal with the game and the young people.” Parents should remain present and interested, even if they think the game is stupid.

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