The authorities of The Netherlands has taken a firm stance against aggressive monetization practices in video gamesA Rotterdam court has upheld a significant financial penalty against Epic Games, creator of Fortnite, for the way the game encourages minors to spend money within its virtual store.
The court decision supports the Dutch consumer and market regulator's ruling and also obliges to change the design of the game's Item Shop in a binding mannerThe goal is to reduce the pressure children and teenagers feel when faced with limited-time offers, insistent messages, and countdown clocks that push them to buy without thinking too much.
Epic Games fined millions for unfair practices
The case focuses on how Fortnite presents and promotes digital items that can be purchased with real money.such as outfits, emotes, wraps, and other cosmetic items. Although the Battle Royale mode is free, the game's business is sustained by these microtransactions, which generate billions of dollars in revenue for Epic Games each year.
The Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) imposed two fines totaling 1.125.000 euros for commercial practices considered unfairAccording to the regulator, the advertising integrated into the game itself and the store's design were not neutral, but were built to aggressively push minors to buy.
A Rotterdam court has now backed the ACM, confirming both the fines and a binding order to reform the Item ShopThis order not only punishes the company, but also compels Epic to introduce concrete changes that reduce commercial pressure on younger players.
The court ruling emphasizes that the combination of visual design, messaging, and time constraints It created an environment in which minors had little chance of making a calm and sufficiently informed decision about their purchases.
Direct messages and artificial scarcity in the Item Shop
One of the key points of the case is the type of messages Fortnite displayed in the store. The court considers it proven that expressions like “get it now” or “get it”, accompanied by prominent buttons, they function as a direct call to purchase aimed at children.
Under consumer protection regulations in the Netherlands, Direct solicitation to buy specifically aimed at minors is expressly prohibitedIt's not just the phrase itself, but the context: striking colors, the location of the purchase button, and the relative obscurity of the options to exit or cancel.
Furthermore, the court agrees with the ACM that the design of the Item Shop generated a “artificial scarcity” through offers that were renewed every 24 hoursThe presence of countdown clocks and the lack of clear information about which items would disappear and for how long added extra pressure.
This combination of limited time, insistent messages, and lack of transparency is considered especially problematic. when the target audience includes minors. For Dutch judges, This environment can distort children's behavior and encourage impulsive purchases. which they would not have done under other circumstances.
The ruling emphasizes that, although many games use similar strategies, When the design is aimed at children, the measuring stick must be stricter.precisely because of this group's vulnerability and its reduced capacity to resist commercial pressure.
Epic Games' arguments and the court's rejection
Epic Games tried to defend itself by claiming that Fortnite includes measures to limit errors and abuse in purchasesAmong them, she cited the possibility of canceling recent purchases, the existence of return tickets to undo purchases, and the option for parents to apply parental controls to their children's accounts.
However, the Rotterdam court held that These safeguards come into play after the critical moment of the decision.And not before. In other words, they don't prevent minors from feeling pressured by urgent messages, countdown clocks, and offers that seem to disappear immediately.
The court decision focuses on the period analyzed by the regulator, which spans between December 2020 and December 2021, and concludes that the tools cited by Epic did not neutralize the pre-click purchase pressure during those months.
For the court, the fundamental issue is not whether there is technically a refund button or whether parents can, in theory, set restrictions, but whether the overall design of the shopping experience is compatible with the protection that the law grants to minorsAnd, in this case, the answer given by the Dutch justice system is negative.
The Court also points out that the existence of parental controls does not exempt the company from their direct responsibility to avoid exerting undue pressure on a specially protected group, such as children and adolescents.
Mandatory exchanges in store for Dutch minors
In addition to the fines, the ruling includes a series of Mandatory steps to modify how products are displayed in the Item Shopespecially when the user is a minor and is located in the Netherlands.
Among the requirements is the removal of counters, countdown clocks and graphic signals that increase the sense of urgency or imminent loss of an opportunity. The idea is to tone down the "run or miss out" attitude that, according to the regulator, dominated the previous experience.
The court also orders Epic Games to Clearly state how long each item will be available. and, where appropriate, extend the purchase period so that players can better assess whether they really want to spend money on that digital content.
In the specific case of players under 18 years of age in the Netherlands, the resolution is stricter: They will only be shown items that have been available for more than 48 hours.The aim is to prevent them from being swept away by the urgency of ultra-short offers.
These obligations are binding and set a precedent on How should video game stores adapt when operating in European markets with particularly active child protection regulations?, like Dutch.
Relevance to the European market and to families
The Netherlands' decision comes in a context where European authorities are closely scrutinizing how video games monetize their users.especially when the target audience includes children and teenagers. In recent years, the discussion about loot boxes, in-app purchases, and addictive designs has intensified.
Although the ruling applies directly to the Netherlands, its impact could extend far beyond its borders. Epic Games operates globally and, in practice, Adjusting the shopping experience for just one country can be complicatedThis opens the door for some changes to eventually spread to other European markets.
For families, the resolution represents support for growing concerns about the money that minors spend on seemingly free gamesMany parents have encountered unexpected charges on their credit cards or bank accounts as a result of impulsive or opaque purchases within very popular titles.
The Fortnite case in the Netherlands could serve as a reference for other regulators in the European Union They should take a closer look at the business practices of the major gaming platforms.especially when they combine eye-catching interfaces with tight deadlines and rewards perceived as exclusive.
The Dutch ruling raises the issue that The protection of minors in digital environments is not limited to privacy or inappropriate content.but it also encompasses the way in which they are invited to spend money within recreational experiences that, in principle, are presented as free.
The Netherlands' action against Epic Games marks a turning point in how the responsibility of video game companies towards their younger users is understood, and sends a clear message: Commercial pressure techniques based on artificial scarcity and extreme urgency have a legal limit when minors are involved..