Fortnite Child Exploitation Lawsuit

Lawyers are investigating potential Fortnite child exploitation lawsuits, centering on claims that child predators were able to get in touch with and groom minors through the game, and that its makers didn’t do enough to address these concerns.

Fortnite is a popular and free video game where avatar versions of players are dropped onto an island and battle one another. Originally released in 2017, the game has grown to have millions of active users.

The game lets users both voice chat and message other players they meet online, potentially putting young users at risk.

Similar lawsuits have already been filed against the popular online gaming platform Roblox. Discord and Snapchat have also faced litigation. Lawsuits generally argue that those companies prioritized profits over safety and failed to put measures in place that could have prevented children from being exploited by adult abusers.

Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, is also facing separate video game addiction lawsuits based on claims that it designed its game to be intentionally addictive.

A minor or their family can qualify to file a Fortnite lawsuit if they came into contact with an adult abuser through the video game and went on to experience exploitation or abuse.

That exploitation may include:

• Rape or attempted rape
• Sexual assault
• Sex trafficking

On platforms like Fortnite, adult predators may pose as children to gain the trust of their targets. From there, once communication is established, the abuse can escalate into coercing the child to send sexually explicit images or even meet in real life.

While law firms are now investigating Fortnite child exploitation lawsuits, Epic Games has been penalized by the U.S. Government in the past over adjacent concerns.

In 2022, the company agreed to a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice to pay a $275 million penalty to resolve a lawsuit that included claims of violating children’s privacy.

The Justice Department claimed that Fortnite had created privacy settings that broadcast young players’ information and “put children and teens in direct, real-time communication with adult Fortnite players.”

Also included in the lawsuit were claims that Epic Games collected large amounts of personal information from children and failed to notify parents that it was doing so.

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

As Fortnite lawsuits are investigated, some other gaming and social media platforms are already facing dozens of lawsuits.

Roblox, a popular gaming platform with hundreds of millions of users, is facing nearly 150 lawsuits claiming that its lax safety features allowed child predators to easily reach young users.

In December 2025, the Roblox lawsuits were grouped together in multidistrict litigation (MDL). This is a legal procedure that places all active lawsuits before one judge to move through the legal process together.

Lawsuits have also been filed against Discord, a popular communication platform among gamers. Some cases claim that predators make contact with children through platforms like Roblox before then moving them to an app with fewer safeguards, like Discord. Many Discord lawsuits also list Roblox as a primary or secondary platform for communication and grooming.

Snapchat lawsuits are also being filed over similar claims.