Fortnite Fines

Happy Weekend. If you’re looking for GTA 6’s release date, it won’t be earlier than fall 2025.

—Tim

MAIN QUEST: ACM Fines Epic for €1.1m

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has fined Epic Games International for unfair commercial practices in Fortnite, particularly targeting children. The investigation uncovered tactics such as ads prompting purchases and misleading countdown timers, exploiting vulnerabilities of young players.

Epic Games contests the decision, citing factual errors and potential negative player experiences. However, the company has announced changes for Dutch players under 18, restricting visibility and purchase of items available for less than 48 hours. Epic also highlights existing child safety features and previous adjustments to the Item Shop.

To address ACM's concerns and comply with regulatory requirements, Epic plans alterations, including removing timers and displaying item availability dates. ACM imposed fines totaling 1,125,000 euros and issued a binding instruction for changes by June 10, 2024, to enhance transparency and reduce time pressure in the Item Shop. ACM will verify compliance post-implementation.

HUD

• WSJ reports that Microsoft will release this year’s Call of Duty on Game Pass Day 1. It is unknown if they will be releasing CoD 2024 only to their Ultimate tier, or if Game Pass will see its second price increase within the past year.

• Xbox is testing its pre-downloading updates feature, beginning with Sea of Thieves. A feature that Sony’s PlayStation Network has had for several years.

MAJOR W

• Fallout’s IP is expanding into Epic Game’s Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 3: Wrecked.

• Manor Lords sold over 2 million copies in its first three weeks of Early Access.

F IN THE CHAT

• Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows main character art leaked online before the reveal trailer, sparking debates on representation within gaming.

• Square Enix expects more layoffs over the next 45 days across publishing, IT, and Square Enix’s Collective indie games division.

CAREER CORNER

• Senior Product Marketing Manager — Unity (Bellevue, WA)

• Marketing Manager — Midwest Games (Remote, US)

• Operations Producer — Eleventh Hour Games (Dallas, TX)

Learn AI in 5 minutes a day.

The Rundown is the world’s largest AI newsletter, read by over 600,000 professionals from companies like Apple, OpenAI, NASA, Tesla, and more.

Their expert research team spends all day learning what’s new in AI and gives you ‘the rundown’ of the most important developments in one free email every morning.

The result? Readers not only keep up with the insane pace of AI but also learn why it actually matters.

Sign up with one click.

Was this email forwarded to you?

Subscribe to Loading Screen today and turn your gaming knowledge up to 11!