Epic Settles V-Bucks Lawsuit With More V-Bucks
What if Chuck E. Cheese settled litigation using arcade tokens? What if Hasbro agreed to pay financial damages using Monopoly money? Both of those scenarios would involve paying out a make-believe currency in order to satisfy a legal obligation. You may think, no, that could never actually happen. But as it turns out, it's not far off from what Epic is doing to settle a class action lawsuit.
According to the official website of the settlement — aptly named EpicLootBoxSettlement.com — Epic Games will send 1,000 V-Bucks to anyone who purchased a random loot box in Fortnite before they were removed. The same goes for those who made a similar purchase in Rocket League. There, players will get up to 1,000 Rocket League Credits. According to the Fortnite Twitter account, the V-Bucks disbursements, at least, should be showing up in player accounts within the next few days. A report from The Verge states that 1,000 V-Bucks is worth about $8, so players won't be receiving a mind-blowing amount of currency in the grand scheme.
But really? Epic is paying out in-game money for a lawsuit settlement? Well, it's actually a bit more complicated than that. The V-Bucks and Rocket League credits are a part of the deal, sure. But they're not all of it. As the settlement website notes, a tub of actual money is being set aside for other related claims — "up to $26.5 million in cash and other benefits to U.S.-based Fortnite and Rocket League players." Those who want a piece of that action will have to submit a separate claim; they won't just get a check mailed to them automatically for their loot box woes.
At the moment, Epic has obtained a "Preliminary Approval" for this settlement, which is why it's gone ahead and announced the distribution of V-Bucks and Rocket League Credits to players. And it's worth noting that Epic's proactive approach here isn't the norm — as The Verge states, "class action lawsuits typically require claimants to file claims to receive benefits." Epic is reportedly sending V-Bucks and Rocket League Credits on its own because the company feels it was genuinely wrong to offer random loot boxes. Still, the act of even partially settling this suit with a virtual currency may rub some the wrong way.
According to The Verge, one last hearing for the class action suit is set to take place sometime in May. In the meantime, be sure to spend all those V-Bucks in one place. That's all you can really do with them.