Risk Score
0 = very fair · 100 = very risky
Summary
This is Epic Games' Terms of Service covering games like Fortnite, Fall Guys, and Rocket League, along with associated in-game content and services. The document is fairly typical for a major gaming platform but contains several significant provisions that heavily favor Epic, including an explicit statement that all purchases are licenses (not ownership), broad rights to suspend or terminate accounts, mandatory arbitration, and the ability to modify or discontinue content without notice. The terms are moderately aggressive in limiting user rights, particularly around digital purchases and dispute resolution. Some user-protective provisions exist, such as refund entitlement if Epic discontinues a paid product, and explicit appeals processes for account actions.
Flagged Clauses
You do not own any games, skins, characters, V-Bucks, or other items you 'purchase.' You are only buying a revocable permission to use them. Epic can take them away.
“The Licensed Products (and In-Game Content) you use are licensed to you, not sold. This means you do not own any Licensed Products or In-Game Content made available to you, but you are granted permission to use them in the form of a license.”
Epic can revoke access to everything you've paid for at any time. You cannot sell, trade, or transfer any of your purchases to anyone else.
“The license granted is: Limited, Personal and non-transferable, Revocable (we can take it away), Non-Exclusive, and Non-sublicensable.”
V-Bucks and other in-game currency have no cash value and cannot be refunded or exchanged for real money. If your account is terminated, you lose any unspent credits.
“CREDITS ARE NOT THE SAME AS CASH, GIFT CARDS, OR BANK ACCOUNTS AND CANNOT BE EXCHANGED FOR REAL CURRENCY OR OTHER ITEMS OUTSIDE THE EPIC ECOSYSTEM.”
Epic can change the price, availability, or features of anything you've bought — including removing it entirely — without telling you in advance and without owing you compensation.
“The features, pricing, availability, and functionality of Credits and other In-Game Content may change at any time without notice, to the fullest extent authorized by law. Epic does not guarantee continued access to specific In-Game Content and is not liable for modification, deletion, or unavailability.”
Epic can permanently ban you from all their games and services across all devices and accounts. All purchases associated with your account would be inaccessible.
“Consequences can include... permanent termination of these Terms as to you (for repeat or serious offenses), which would mean you cannot use Licensed Products ever again in any Epic Games Account or on any device.”
If Epic bans your account for any rule violation, you lose all your purchases and paid credits with no refund.
“To the fullest extent allowed by applicable law, you will not be entitled to a refund if we suspend or terminate your account due to your breach of these Terms (like Fraud or Cheats).”
Epic can change the rules at any time. Simply continuing to play the game counts as agreeing to the new terms, even if you didn't explicitly read or accept them.
“We may update these Terms in the future... Your continued use of Licensed Products after we update these Terms (and, for material changes, following the period of advance notice) means that you accept and agree to the changes.”
Epic can wipe your game progress, customizations, or character data at any time without warning and without any obligation to compensate you.
“Unless otherwise required by applicable law, you also acknowledge that any character data, game progress, game customization or other data related to your use of the Licensed Products may cease to be available to you at any time without notice from Epic, including after a patch, update, or upgrade is applied by Epic.”
Disputes with Epic are resolved through arbitration rather than court. This limits your ability to sue Epic in court and likely waives your right to participate in class action lawsuits.
“By accepting these Terms, you... agree to abide by these rules, including limits on Epic's liability to you, rules for in-game content, arbitration of disputes, and Epic's right to amend these Terms and terminate Epic Games Accounts.”
The arbitration and class action waiver clauses apply to U.S. users. Non-U.S. users may have more legal rights depending on local law, but those clauses are still written into the agreement.
“FOR NON-U.S. RESIDENTS: If you don't live in the United States, certain provisions, including liability disclaimers, mandatory arbitration, and waiver of participation in 'class actions,' may not be enforceable in your country due to local law.”
Epic's anti-cheat tools (Gameplay Integrity Tools) can scan and transmit information about programs running on your computer, not just the game itself.
“These tools may collect and send information about your Epic Games Account, gameplay, and any unauthorized programs running on your device.”
Epic records voice and text chat snippets on your device. If reported, these are sent to Epic and analyzed by both humans and AI/machine learning systems.
“If a potential violation of our Community Rules is reported, these snippets may be transmitted to Epic and reviewed. In addition to human review, Epic may analyze your communications (including text and voice chat) with machine learning technologies to help identify behavior that violates the rules.”
If Epic bans or takes action against you and you dispute it, Epic can present secret evidence to the arbitrator that you and your lawyer are not allowed to see. This significantly limits your ability to defend yourself.
“You agree that, in the event of a dispute over an action Epic has taken against you, Epic may provide evidence of your violation to an arbitrator or court privately (referred to in the legal world as 'in camera'), without sharing that evidence with you or your legal representative.”
Subscriptions auto-renew and will be charged repeatedly. The terms don't detail a specific cancellation process in this document.
“If you purchase a recurring subscription, we will charge you on a recurring basis as explained at the time of subscription.”
By default, all purchases are non-refundable unless specifically marked otherwise or your local law requires it.
“Unless a purchase from Epic is labeled as refundable, or unless an applicable law entitles you to a refund... you should assume that all purchases from Epic are non-refundable.”
Users are prohibited from using Epic's game content to train AI models. This is a relatively new clause appearing in modern ToS documents.
“Use code or content extracted from the Licensed Products as training input for any Generative AI Program or as prompt-based input where the Generative AI Program trains on input data.”
If Epic removes a product you paid for, you may be able to get a refund. This is a user-protective clause, though it requires you to proactively contact support.
“If an update or change to our offerings results in your loss of access to Licensed Products (or material features thereof) for which you have paid money, you may be entitled to a refund of all or part of the sums you've paid – you can contact Epic Games Support to discuss.”
Your in-game achievements, levels, and rewards have no monetary or ownership value whatsoever and belong entirely to Epic.
“You acknowledge that using Licensed Products does not give you any ownership or any monetary or other interest in any aspect or feature of the Licensed Products, including any in-game rewards, achievements, or character levels.”
Missing Protections
- No explicit cancellation process or timeline for recurring subscriptions described in this document
- No data retention or deletion policy described — what happens to your personal data after account deletion is not covered here
- No clear SLA (Service Level Agreement) or uptime guarantee for paid services
- No price-lock guarantee for existing subscribers when prices change
- No explicit COPPA or GDPR compliance statement within this document (only referenced externally)
- No explicit procedure for what happens to unspent credits/V-Bucks if Epic shuts down a game or the service
- No transparency about what specific data Gameplay Integrity Tools collect beyond vague 'programs running on your device'
- No independent appeal process — appeals go back to Epic itself, not a neutral third party
- No explicit commitment to how far in advance 'reasonable notice' for material term changes will be given
Fair Terms
- Explicitly states that if Epic discontinues a paid product, users 'may be entitled to a refund' and can contact support
- Acknowledges that mandatory arbitration and class action waivers may not be enforceable for non-U.S. residents under local law
- Provides an appeals process for account bans and suspensions
- States that pricing changes will not affect previous purchases ('any such pricing changes will not affect any previous purchases')
- Explicitly notes that U.K. residents have additional consumer protection rights that override some clauses
- Users can delete their Epic Games Account at any time
- For U.K. residents, account deletion must comply with applicable consumer protection laws
- Explicitly prohibits AI training on game content, protecting the game's creative assets
Document information only — not legal advice.