Dutch fine Fortnite maker for 'pressuring' kids with ads

The Hague: Dutch authorities slapped a 1.1 million euro fine on Fortnite maker Epic Games on Tuesday, judging that vulnerable children were exploited...

The Hague: Dutch authorities slapped a 1.1-million-euro fine on Fortnite maker Epic Games on Tuesday, judging that vulnerable children were exploited and pressured into making purchases in the game's Item Shop.

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) hit Epic Games with two separate fines totalling the equivalent of $1.2 million, after finding that underage gamers "could experience pressure in several ways to make purchases."

Epic Games has filed an objection against the decision and proposed several changes to the game that the ACM said would resolve their concerns.

"The findings... contain significant factual errors about how Fortnite and the Item Shop operate," the firm said.

The ACM imposed the first fine over phrases in the game such as "Get it now" or "Buy now". Adverts directly exhorting children to make purchases are "an illegal aggressive commercial practice under all circumstances," said the ACM.