SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – The maker of the video game Fortnite says a federal class action against it over in-game purchases must be thrown out of court.
That’s because those claims are resolved by a settlement in North Carolina state court worth $26.5 million, Epic Games wrote in an April 13 motion to dismiss. Lawyers at Bay Advocacy and One LLP who tried to pursue a federal class action in San Francisco withdrew their opposition to the North Carolina settlement earlier this month.
“The Zanca settlement approved by the state court system in North Carolina, where Epic Games is headquartered, is entitled by law to full faith and credit in this court,” Epic Games wrote.
“Here, Plaintiffs’ claims were released under the terms of the Zanca settlement. Accordingly, just as a North Carolina state court would treat Plaintiffs’ claims as released, this court must do the same. Because Plaintiffs have released their claims by operation of the Zanca settlement, the case is moot.”
The issue in the litigation is with V-Bucks, which can be earned or purchased while playing Fortnite. Bay Advocacy says allowing a minor to use parents’ credit cards to buy them is a violation of the law.
A minor can’t enter into a contract relating to any personal property not in his or her immediate possession, the California suit says. Those contracts are void and amounts paid pursuant to them are refundable, it adds.
The North Carolina settlement provides up to $26.5 million in cash for the class and 1,000 V-Bucks for each member.
Firms involved in that settlement include Whitfield Bryson, McGuire Law, Devlin Law Firm and McMorrow Law. Their fee request was $11.3 million.
Bay Advocacy said in its now-dropped objection that Epic Games “picked” those lawyers as those it wanted to negotiate with, claiming the North Carolina case was a “made-to-order lawsuit that Plaintiffs never intended to litigate.”