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Tag: Fortnite

  • Epic Games Introduces Voice Reporting For Fortnite Players To Take Action Against Players Using Voice Chats To Bully and Harass Others

    Epic Games Introduces Voice Reporting For Fortnite Players To Take Action Against Players Using Voice Chats To Bully and Harass Others

    San Francisco, November 16: Epic Games on Thursday introduced voice reporting in its popular game Fortnite to take action against players using voice chat to bully, harass, discriminate, or engage in other inappropriate behaviour. Now, in addition to being able to block, mute, and report other players, the players will be able to submit audio evidence when reporting suspected violations of the company’s Community Rules.

    “When voice reporting is on, the last five minutes of voice chat audio are captured on a rolling basis. This means only the immediate last five minutes of audio is reportable. As new audio is captured, any previous audio that’s more than five minutes old is automatically deleted,” informed the company.

    Voice chat audio is captured on your device — for example your gaming console or PC — not the Epic Games servers. “Audio clips submitted to Epic for review will be auto-deleted after 14 days or the duration of a sanction, whichever is longer. In the event of an appeal, retention may be extended for up to 14 days so the sanction decision can be reviewed,” said the company.

    If Epic needs to retain an audio clip to comply with legal obligations, it will be retained for as long as legally required. Voice reporting is always on for voice chats that include players under 18. “If you’re a parent, you can manage your child’s voice chat permissions by logging into the Epic Account Portal and using Epic’s existing Parental Controls,” the company noted. YouTube New Feature Update: Google-Owned Platform Testing New GenAI Feature To Help People Create Music Tracks Using Text Prompts or Hummed Tune.

    To report inappropriate conduct happening in voice chat, you can report a conversation in a Party or Game Channel. The Fortnite voice reporting cannot be used to report conversations on other chat services (such as Discord or your console’s chat) because they are not operated by Epic, the company informed.

    (The above story first appeared on Morning Tidings on Nov 16, 2023 07:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website morningtidings.com).

  • Google Tells Court That It Offered USD 147 Million to Epic Games To Launch Fortnite on Google Play Store

    Google Tells Court That It Offered USD 147 Million to Epic Games To Launch Fortnite on Google Play Store

    San Francisco, November 9: Google offered a $147 million deal to game developer Epic Games to launch its popular game Fortnite on Google Play store, the tech giant has told the court. Purnima Kochikar, Vice President, Play Partnerships at Google, said in her testimony that the deal was approved and presented to Epic but not accepted, reports The Verge.

    The deal would have seen the money dispensed over a three-year period of “incremental funding” (ending in 2021) to Epic.In a document justifying the deal, Google wrote that “Fortnite’s absence could result in $130 million (up to $250 million) direct revenue loss with Play” and that there could be a “downstream impact of $550 million (up to $3.6 billion) potential revenue loss if broad contagion to other developers”. Microsoft-Owned GitHub Now Has 13.2 Million Developers in India, With 3.5 Million Joining Platform This Year Alone.

    “We just wanted developers to choose Play,” Kochikar said in the testimony. The Epic vs Google trial began on Monday. Google defended its 30 per cent cut on transactions for apps via its Play store. According to The Verge, Google attorney Glenn Pomerantz described the 30 per cent share as “a market fee, not a monopoly fee.”

    “The service fee you see here is exactly the same fee that Epic pays in the Nintendo store, the Xbox store, the Steam store,” he said in the court. “All these stores charge a mega developer like Epic the same 30 per cent fee.” Steve Allison, head of the Epic Games Store, disputed that 30 per cent is the standard. Disney+ Hotstar Loses 2.8 Million Subscribers in India in Quarter Ending September 30, Now Has 37.8 Million Subscribers From 40.4 Million in Q2.

    The lawsuit was filed after Google pulled Fortnite from the Play store. Epic is arguing that Google’s monopolistic control on its Google Play Store for Android smartphones violates both state and federal antitrust laws.

    (The above story first appeared on Morning Tidings on Nov 09, 2023 12:48 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website morningtidings.com).

  • Fortnite Maker Epic Games To Pay USD 520 Million Fine Over Kids’ Privacy Violations

    Fortnite Maker Epic Games To Pay USD 520 Million Fine Over Kids’ Privacy Violations

    New York, December 19: The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Monday said it has reached a $520 million settlement with Epic Games, creator of the popular video game Fortnite, over allegations that the company violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and deployed design tricks, known as dark patterns, to dupe millions of players into making unintentional purchases.

    Fortnite made over $9 billion during its first two years in existence. Epic will pay a $275 million penalty for violating children’s privacy law, change default privacy settings, and pay $245 million in refunds for tricking users into making unwanted charges. Fortress Night, Chinese Version of Video Game Fortnite, To Shut Down in China From November 15.

    “As our complaints note, Epic used privacy-invasive default settings and deceptive interfaces that tricked Fortnite users, including teenagers and children,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. Epic Games Announces In-Person Fortnite Competition in November 2022.

    “Protecting the public, and especially children, from online privacy invasions and dark patterns is a top priority for the Commission, and these enforcement actions make clear to businesses that the FTC is cracking down on these unlawful practices,” Khan said in a statement.

    Epic’s video game Fortnite is generally free to download and play but charges users for in-game items such as costumes and dance moves. The game has more than 400 million users worldwide. The FTC alleged in two separate complaints that North Carolina-based Epic engaged in several unlawful practices.

    In a complaint filed in a federal court, the FTC alleged that Epic violated the COPPA Rule by collecting personal information from children under 13 who played Fortnite, a child-directed online service, without notifying their parents or obtaining their parents’ verifiable consent. Epic also violated the FTC Act’s prohibition against unfair practices by enabling real-time voice and text chat communications for children and teens by default.

    “The Justice Department takes very seriously its mission to protect consumers’ data privacy rights,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “This proposed order sends a message to all online providers that collecting children’s personal information without parental consent will not be tolerated.”

    In addition to paying the record civil penalty, which goes to the US Treasury, for violating the COPPA Rule, the order will prohibit Epic from enabling voice and text communications for children and teens unless parents (of users under 13) or teenage users (or their parents) provide their affirmative consent through a privacy setting.

    In a separate complaint, the FTC alleged that Epic used dark patterns to trick players into making unwanted purchases and let children rack up unauthorised charges without any parental involvement.

    “Epic put children and teens at risk through its lax privacy practices, and cost consumers millions in illegal charges through its use of dark patterns,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

    Under the proposed orders, the company will be required to change its default settings, return millions to consumers, and pay a record-breaking penalty for its privacy abuses, Levine added.

    (The above story first appeared on Morning Tidings on Dec 19, 2022 11:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website morningtidings.com).

  • Game Addiction: Canadian Parents Sue Epic Games’ Fortnite Creator for ‘Addictive’ Game

    Game Addiction: Canadian Parents Sue Epic Games’ Fortnite Creator for ‘Addictive’ Game

    San Francisco, December 12: A group of Canadian parents has sued the maker of the video game Fortnite, claiming it turns kids into gaming addicts, which makes them stop eating, sleeping and bathing. According to BBC, a Canadian Supreme Court judge has approved the lawsuit filed by parents against Epic Games’ Fortnite.

    The court documents said that the World Health Organization recognised video game addiction in 2018. Epic Games said that it had “industry-leading parental controls that empower parents to supervise their child’s digital experience”, according to the report. Gaming Addiction: Park in Lucknow’s Kashmiri Mohalla Is Now PUBG Haven.

    “Parents can receive playtime reports that track the amount of time their child plays each week, and require parental permission before purchases are made,” the company said.

    “We plan to fight this in court. We believe the evidence will show that this case is meritless,” it added. In the lawsuit, one of the children cited having played the game for more than 7,700 hours in less than two years, said the report. Gaming Addiction: Psychiatrists Warn Parents About Child Behaviour Following Murder Case in Lucknow.

    Furthermore, the legal action claims that the game was purposefully designed to be “highly addictive”. More than 350 million people have played the popular online game.

    While the game is free to play, players pay to use in-game money called “V Bucks”. The game has made more than $9 billion worldwide, the report added.

    (The above story first appeared on Morning Tidings on Dec 12, 2022 07:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website morningtidings.com).

  • Epic Games Announces In-Person Fortnite Competition in November 2022

    San Francisco: In a bid to empower gamers, Epic Games has announced that it will host an in-person Fortnite competition in November in the US, with a prize pool set to be $1 million. The company said that it will host the FNCS Invitational 2022 in-person on November 12 and 13 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Fortnite Users Can Now Use Microsoft Xbox Cloud To Access the Game on iOS, Android & Windows PCs.

    “We will be inviting a selection of top FNCS Duos from around the world who will have the opportunity to compete in a single lobby for a share of a $1,000,000 prize pool!” the company said in a blogpost “We plan to share more details on the FNCS Invitational 2022 in the coming months,” the company added.

    The company mentioned that for anyone anticipating an invitation, please make sure any required travel documentation is secured well ahead of time. Epic also stressed that its players’ health and safety are the number one priority for holding any in-person event.

    “If public health trends change, or regional laws or recommendations shift at any point this year, we may have to reschedule or change these plans,” the company said.

    The last offline event hosted by Fortnite was the Fortnite World cup in 2019. Meanwhile, a recent report said that Fortnite fans can now use Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming platform to access the game on iOS, Android devices and Windows PCs.

    (The above story first appeared on Morning Tidings on May 31, 2022 04:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website morningtidings.com).

  • Slurp Fish in Real Life? Viral Videos Show Fortnite Slurpfish To Exist in Oceans! Watch

    If you are a genuine thalassophile and love exploring bizarre yet beautiful water bodies, you might have heard about Slurp Fish. Well, the stunning blue colour fish is seen in the game Fortnite in specific fishing spots. But recently, a viral video from Twitter shows a fisherman catching the exact Slurp Fish in reality. No empirical evidence is available yet on the existence of the water creature. Are These The Weirdest Sea Creatures Ever Seen? Russian Photographer Shares Underwater Pictures from Atlantic, and They Are Creepy!

    Watch The Viral Footage:

    What Say?

     

    (SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user’s social media account and Morning Tidings Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of Morning Tidings, also Morning Tidings does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)

  • Fortnite Users Can Now Use Microsoft Xbox Cloud To Access the Game on iOS, Android & Windows PCs

    San Francisco: Fortnite fans can now use Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming platform to access the game on iOS, Android devices and Windows PCs. The tech giant has announced that it has teamed up with Epic Games to make Fortnite available on supported browser-enabled devices for free with Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta). Fortress Night, Chinese Version of Video Game Fortnite, To Shut Down in China From November 15.

    “As part of our mission to bring the joy and community of gaming to players wherever they are and to make gaming more accessible to people around the world, I am excited to announce that we have partnered with Epic Games to make Fortnite available on supported browser-enabled devices for free with Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) in 26 countries,” Catherine Gluckstein, Vice President and Head of Product, Xbox Cloud Gaming, said in a blogpost.

    This means, for those who love to play Fortnite, they only need two things to play in cloud-supported markets, a Microsoft account or an iOS, iPadOS, Android phone or tablet, or Windows PC with internet access. With no installation or memberships required, all what users need to do is go to Xbox.com/play on their web browser and sign-in with Microsoft Account.

    “It is an important step to add a Free-to-Play title to the cloud gaming catalog as we continue our cloud journey,” the company said. “We are starting with Fortnite and will look to bring more Free-to-Play games people love in the future. At Xbox we want to make gaming accessible to the 3 billion players around the world, and cloud has an important role in that mission,” it added.

    This is the first time the game has been available to all iOS users since Apple withdrew it from the App Store in 2020 due to a disagreement over Apple’s 30 per cent developer fee. Nvidia offered iOS Fortnite gamers a closed beta programme to play the game in January, but access was limited.

    (The above story first appeared on Morning Tidings on May 06, 2022 12:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website morningtidings.com).

  • Fortress Night, Chinese Version of Video Game Fortnite, To Shut Down in China From November 15

    Beijing, November 2: Fortress Night, the Chinese version of the popular video game Fortnite, is shutting down its services entirely on November 15. The company’s official website in China stated that it is ending the “test” version of the game in the region this month. The developers will close the registration of new accounts and the download portal on November 1. The game will shut down entirely on November 15, with the servers shutting down permanently.

    “Fortnite China’s Beta test has reached an end, and the servers will be closed soon,” it said in a statement. “On November 15 at 11am, we will turn off game servers, and players will no longer be able to log in.” Fortress Night was launched in 2018 through a partnership with publisher Tencent. Fortnite Free V Bucks Generator Without Human Verification – Get V bucks for Free in 2021.

    Currently, no exact reason has been given as to why Fortnite China is suddenly being shut down. Only a few months ago, the Chinese government introduced new laws that prevent under-18s from playing any more than three hours per weekend.

    Online games will also be required to connect through an “anti-addiction” system run by the government under the new regulations Users must use their real names and government-issued documentation for identification on the sites.

    The companies also will not be allowed to provide services to users who haven’t logged in with real-name registration, preventing them from simply remaining ignorant to their users’ backgrounds.

    (The above story first appeared on Morning Tidings on Nov 02, 2021 09:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website morningtidings.com).

  • Superman has arrived in Fortnite – morningtidings

    Superman has arrived in Fortnite – morningtidings

    DC’s Superman has arrived in Fortnite as a character skin. The battle royale game added new skins and cosmetics of one of the most widely known comic book characters from the DC Universe. With the Superman skin, you can now drop onto the island as Kal-El/Clark Kent.
    There are Superman-themes rewards in store for players too. They include the Daily Planet back bling, a pickaxe, and the chance to play as the journalist.
    If you complete 1 quest from Clark Kent, Armored Batman, or Beast Boy, it will unlock the Call to Action Emoticon. If you go one and complete 2 more, you’ll get the Superman Shield Spray. Completing 5 quests from Clark Kent, Armored Batman, or Beast Boy will unlock the Clark Kent Outfit for you.Successful completion of gliding through 3 rings as Clark Kent will unlock the Daily Planet Back Bling.
    Coming to the Epic quests of Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 7, there are plenty of rewards in the offing for you if you complete them. They include Kal-El’s Cape Glider, A Superman Banner, The Last Son of Krypton loading screen, The Solitude Striker Pickaxe, The Shadow variant for Clark Kent, the Daily Planet Back Bling (the “Late Edition”), the Superman Cape Back Bling and the Solitude Striker Pickaxe.
    Fortnite has been adding DC characters to the game like Armored Batman, Beast Boy, Suicide Squad’s Bloodsport and now Superman himself as character skins. The BloodSport skin accessories include the A.R.G.U.S. Sabre Pickaxe and Bloodsport Camo Wrap. In Fortnite, all these DC characters are not going to be playable characters and the character skins and accessories have been added for purely cosmetic reasons.

    timesofindia.indiatimes.com

  • Elon Musk says Apple is charging a global internet tax – morningtidings

    Elon Musk says Apple is charging a global internet tax – morningtidings

    Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, slammed Apple for charging developers a high 30% fees for distributing apps through Apple App Store while he showcased full support to Fornite creator Epic Games. Musk called the App Store fees as a “de facto global tax on the Internet” and also said that Epic Games is right to fight back Apple.
    The fight between Apple and Epic Games heated up when Apple kicked out Fortnite game from the App Store, last year in August, for violating policies after Epic Games started using its own payment system.
    While Musk said that he likes using Apple devices, he feels that Apple is “overcharging with App Store”. “I mean 30% fees for doing almost zero incremental work is completely unreasonable. Epic wouldn’t bother processing their own payments if App Store fees were fair,” he tweeted.

    What Epic Games wants

    Epic Games lobbyists have been trying to pass a bill that will allow iPhone users to download iOS apps on the iPhone without going through the App Store. Like Google allows third-party app stores and apk file installation, the lobbyists want a similar thing for iPhones as well. The bill also wants companies like Apple to not “retaliate against a developer for choosing to use an alternative application store or in-application payment system.”

    While the lobbyist may debate that it’s monopolistic behaviour by Apple to strictly control app developers, for the end users it may be seen as a blessing in disguise simply because it safeguards iPhone users from rogue apps, malware and privacy issues.
    When compared to Android, while the open nature has helped the platform grow immensely we can’t deny that it has allowed entry to countless rogue developers and apps.
    Even Apple employee feels 30% is too much
    Epic Games, the developers of Fortnite, earlier presented a 10-year-old email to Steve Jobs from Apple’s marketing chief Phil Schiller as evidence to fight Apple in court. The mail from Schiller to Jobs and Eddy Cue (head of services) talks about reducing the App Store commission that Apple charges developers from 30% to 20%.
    Schiller asked whether Apple can continue with the “70/30 split” forever in the mail. The split refers to the 30% fees that Apple charges developers for paid apps, purchases made inside the app along with subscriptions. While Schiller made it clear that he is a “staunch supporter” of the fees, he was not confident that the 30% cut can remain “unchanged forever”.

    timesofindia.indiatimes.com