Parents are sueing Fortnite over the way its shop is designed.
Fortnite's Item Shop is once again facing legal battles – this time because of complaints made by parents.
Fortnite's Legal Struggles
Fortnite's Item Shop has been the center of legal issues multiple times now. In 2022, the company agreed to refund players who were "manipulated" into buying in-game items. Then, in 2024, it was fined for "exploiting children", prompting changes to its shop after the ACM accused it of unfair commercial practices.
Now, Epic is facing yet another lawsuit, this time over claims that its Item Shop fosters fake urgency, triggering FOMO (fear of missing out) in young players.
Parents VS Fortnite
The lawsuit that was filed on March 5 highlights "Epic’s Deceptive Countdown Timers," citing the Horizon Zero Dawn bundle as an example. The bundle was advertised with a bold pink discount label and a timer showing when the cosmetics would leave the shop.
According to the complaint, millions of young Fortnite players understood this as a genuine time-limited offer. However, when the countdown expired, the items commonly remained available – often at the same "discounted" price – for days or even weeks, reinforcing claims of misleading sales tactics.
“Some items, such as the ultra-rare Renegade Raider outfit, were offered briefly and have not been offered in more than six years. Others disappear only to reappear weeks later. These offerings and their schedules are subjects of intense interest to Fortnite players.” - Lawsuit filed on March 5
Epic Games has reacted to the lawsuit in a statement made by a spokesperson to Polygon, denying the accusations and stating that it offers enough security measures for minors:
This complaint contains factual errors and does not reflect how Fortnite operates. Last year we removed the countdown timer in the Item Shop and we offer protections against unwanted purchases. This includes a hold-to-purchase mechanic, instant purchase cancellations, self service returns for shop purchases and an explicit yes/no choice to save payment information. When a player creates an Epic account and indicates they are under 13, they are unable to make real money purchases until a parent provides consent. Once they do, we offer industry leading parental controls including PIN protecting purchases. We will fight these claims. - Epic Games spokesperson to Polygon
We'll see how this lawsuit will end and who's officially in the right – on the one hand, Epic Games is correct that it offers some protection such as instant cancellations. However, it doesn't ask for any evidence to prove a person's age, so minors could just as well lie about being allowed to make purchases (though it could be argued that that's on the parents to supervise).
On the other hand, observations of the Item Shop have shown that there have indeed been misleading timers and sales in the past. Also, the lawsuit is correct about a specific problem:
While Epic does now tell people when a certain item is going to be removed from the shop, it doesn't state when it will be available again and the shop rotation is extremely inconsistent. This alone can put pressure (or fomo) on consumers because they don't know if or when an item will return.
What do you think about this lawsuit, who's in the right? Have you made negative experiences with the Fortnite Item Shop? Tell us in the comments!