Parents Sue Fortnite For Giving Their Kids "FOMO"

FOMO (fear of missing out) is real, ladies and gentlemen. It's something I experience on a weekly basis while perusing the latest board game offerings on crowdfunding sites. Buy now, or get left out, is the way of sales these days, as sad as it is, and therein lies the problem a couple of parents have with Fortnite.

The battle royale has already had action brought against it in the Netherlands due to these tactics after it was found that those 24-hour timers weren't accurate more than half the time.

The illusion of scarcity secures many a dollar, and Fortnite is no stranger to such tactics with their limited-time skins. Some aren't seen for years, while others stay on sale for days or weeks after the 24-hour timer expires. It's quite dastardly.

So enter two parents of Fortnite players who say enough is enough, as they have filed suit in San Francisco on Wednesday to try and put a stop to these tactics ,according to Polygon. The parents are specifically targeting those 24-hour timers and the FOMO they create. It's less about the fabricated scarcity of the skins and more about the limited-time "discounts" that are purposely creating a desire to buy now, even though more than half the time the items remain on sale well past the timer.

For their part, Epic Games says they will fight these claims, stating that they have made changes to the item shop (following the actions taken in the Netherlands, of course).

The parents of these Fortnite gamers have cited several counts against Epic, including the North Carolina Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, the California False Advertising Law, the California Unfair Competition Law, and the Texas Unfair and Deceptive Practices Act. One plaintiff resides in California, another in Texas, and Epic is in North Carolina, hence the State Acts cited.

All we're asking here is for Epic Games to quit trying to create FOMO. We players can generate that on our own.