Epic Games will settle Fortnite loot box lawsuits in V-Bucks

Epic Games will give Fortnite players 1,000 V-Bucks if they ever purchased an in-game loot box, presented within the game as “loot llamas” containing randomized items, as part of a proposed class action lawsuit settlement to be approved later this week.

While Fortnite’s massively popular battle royale mode has never contained randomized loot boxes, the game’s cooperative survival mode, “Save the World,” did — at least until 2019 when Epic changed its loot box system to allow players to see the item inside prior to purchase.

Now, anyone who purchased a randomized loot box prior to their discontinuation will have the 1,000 V-Bucks (roughly $8) deposited automatically into their accounts over the next two to three days. The decision is part of a broader move from Epic to settle blind draw loot box lawsuits it’s faced over the last few years.

In this case, the developer on Monday received confirmation from a judge of preliminary approval for its class action settlement in the Superior Court of North Carolina, which is why Epic says it will begin distributing the rewards today. The move is unusual, as class action lawsuit settlements typically require claimants to file claims to receive benefits. But Epic says it’s giving out benefits early because it feels its current position on loot boxes is the right one, and that its players are owed something for having bought randomized ones in the past.
"Epic will deposit V-Bucks and Rocket League credits automatically "

“For one, it’s the right thing to do and we feel strongly about random item loot boxes. And two, we feel good about the settlement,” said Jeffrey Jacobson, a partner at the law firm Faegre Drinker representing Epic, tells The Verge in an interview. “We hope our players agree with us.” A final approval hearing is scheduled for May, and lawyers representing both Epic and the plaintiffs expect the settlement to be approved as is.

Epic says that while the settlement affects only US players, it’s deciding to award the 1,000 V-Bucks to all players of Fortnite globally, so long as they purchased at least one of its randomized loot llamas. The proposed settlement also includes Rocket League players who purchased in-game items like event crates or keys to open loot boxes in the game, and affected players will be given 1,000 credits to be distributed automatically this week in similar fashion. Epic acquired Rocket League developer Psyonix in 2019.

Epic says with regard to the scope of the US settlement, the V-Bucks benefit will go to 6.5 million players who bought a random item loot llama in Fortnite and 2.9 million Rocket League players who purchased an event crate or a key that was used to open a crate.

:story: The Verge