Fortnite FTC Refunds: $126 Million Sent in 2025, More Payments Expected in 2026

In December 2022 the FTC announced two settlements with Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite. One was a $275 million civil penalty over children's privacy under COPPA, which is a penalty paid to the government, not refunds to players. The second, the one that funds these refunds, required Epic to pay $245 million to consumers. The FTC finalized that administrative order on March 14, 2023, in In the Matter of Epic Games, Inc., FTC Matter No. 1923203.

The FTC alleged Epic used design tricks, often called dark patterns, to get players into unintended purchases. According to the FTC, Fortnite's confusing button layout let players be charged with a single button press, including while trying to wake the game from sleep mode, during a loading screen, or while previewing an item. The agency also said children could make purchases without parental consent and that Epic locked accounts of people who disputed charges with their card company.

The order bars Epic from charging consumers through dark patterns or without affirmative consent, and from locking people out of their accounts for disputing unauthorized charges. Epic settled without the FTC proving its allegations in court. Because this is an agency refund program rather than a class action lawsuit, there was no opt-out, objection deadline, or fairness hearing.

You could file a claim if any of these applied to you in the United States:

• You were charged in-game currency (V-Bucks) for items you did not want between January 2017 and September 2022.
• Your child made charges to your credit card without your knowledge between January 2017 and November 2018.
• Your account was locked between January 2017 and September 2022 after you complained to your credit card company about wrongful charges.

Claimants had to be at least 18; a parent or guardian filed for anyone younger. Only people who submitted a claim through the FTC's official Fortnite refund site by July 9, 2025 can be paid. Owning a Fortnite account during those years did not by itself make you eligible or trigger an automatic payment.

The FTC said the average payment in the December 2024 round was about $114. The FTC did not publish an average for the June 2025 round, but dividing more than $126 million by 969,173 payments works out to roughly $130 each. That is our arithmetic, not an FTC figure, and individual amounts varied.

Together the first two rounds total nearly $200 million of the $245 million fund. The FTC says the size of any remaining payment depends on several factors, including how many people filed valid claims. Most refunds are not taxable income when they reimburse you for money you lost; see taxes on settlement payments.

You receive the payment type you picked on the claim form: a check or a PayPal payment. About half of the first-round payments went out by PayPal.

1. Checks must be cashed within 90 days.
2. PayPal payments must be accepted within 30 days.
3. If a payment expires or you never got one, contact the refund administrator, Rust Consulting, Inc., at 1-833-915-0880 or admin@fortniterefund.com.

The FTC will never demand money, ask you to transfer funds, or ask for account information to send a refund. Messages asking for your Epic login, card number, or a processing fee are scams; see our guide to settlement scams. The refund administrator acts much like a settlement administrator in a class action. If your money has not arrived, our guide on what to do when a settlement payment has not arrived covers next steps.

As of September 2026, the FTC's refund page says claims filed after February 14, 2025 are still being reviewed and that it expects to send additional payments in 2026. No date or amount for that round has been announced. Check the FTC's Fortnite page linked above for updates rather than third-party sites.

The FTC is not accepting new claims, and the July 9, 2025 deadline has no stated exceptions. If you disputed specific unauthorized charges with your card issuer and were refunded, that is separate from this program.

Some families are pursuing different claims about game design rather than billing. Lawsuits alleging that games were built to be compulsive are covered on our video game addiction lawsuit page. Those are allegations that no court has proven. If a child in your family has a diagnosed gaming disorder and heavy spending, a free case review can connect you with independent attorneys who handle these cases.

Other gaming money includes the PlayStation Store settlement, which pays automatic PSN credits, and the Google Play children's privacy settlement. For platform safety claims involving children, see our Roblox lawsuit page. For the Fortnite program itself, the only official source is the FTC page linked above.