A fine of $245m (€229m) on Fortnite creator Epic has been “finalised” by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to settle charges that the company used “dark patterns” to trick players into making unwanted purchases and let children “rack up unauthorised charges” without any parental involvement.

The judgment forms part of a wave of fines resulting in a total bill of $520m for the games maker.

The ruling applies to Fortnite users in the US.

Fortnite is generally free to download and play but it charges users for in-game items. It has more than 400 million users worldwide and made more than $9bn in its first two years.

The watchdog said that Fortnite’s trickery included things such as costumes and dances, while players often unintentionally bought items such as ‘V-bucks’, the in-game currency.

It also said that Fortnite set up its game in a way that often did not require parental consent for children to make purchases. It said that by enabling voice and text chat communications by default, children were sometimes bullied and upset.

“Fortnite used a variety of design tricks known as dark patterns aimed at getting consumers of all ages to make unintended in-game purchases,” said the regulatory body.

“Fortnite’s counterintuitive, inconsistent, and confusing button configuration led players to incur unwanted charges based on the press of a single button. The company also made it easy for children to make purchases while playing Fortnite without requiring any parental consent. Epic also locked the accounts of customers who disputed unauthorised charges with their credit card companies.”

Under the FTC’s order, the $245m fine will be used to provide refunds to consumers.

The order also prohibits Epic from charging consumers through the use of dark patterns or from otherwise charging consumers without obtaining their affirmative consent.

Additionally, the order bars Epic from blocking consumers from accessing their accounts for disputing unauthorised charges.

​