Fortnite deletes accounts unless players use Social Security numbers or credit cards for verification

Epic Games has teamed up with SuperAwesome to ensure a safer internet for kids. The partnership started in September 2021 but has recently been in the spotlight due to its unusual user verification method. Additionally, many Fortnite players who have not verified their accounts have received deletion warnings. This has reportedly been happening since last week.

While this process is in place to protect the internet's youngest users, both companies require adults to enter their credit card number or the last four digits of their social security number to verify their children's accounts.

The community has been complaining about this, but it's doubtful that Epic Games will change that. After all, this decision hasn't been made by Epic itself. Companies are required by law to implement this verification method, which is unfortunate.

Many players are skeptical about this process and don't trust the developers. However, they will have to complete the verification process as their Fortnite account will likely be deleted otherwise.

Epic Games will delete unverified Fortnite accounts

The deletion warning states that if players do not verify their accounts, they will be permanently deleted. Players are given 30 days to verify their account, which is more than enough time.

However, since accounts can only be verified by entering credit card info, many people are hesitant to participate in the authentication process.

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While getting a verified Fortnite account seems like a no-brainer, sharing such sensitive info with third parties is quite risky. While Epic Games won't abuse this information, it's understandable why so many players are bothered by this.

Many called this verification "disgusting" after discovering it was true. At first, almost everyone believed it was a scam because, for them, it was considered a scam.

According to Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, this verification is necessary because Fortnite is part of the Metaverse.

“The metaverse will be made up of many types of experiences and will not be controlled by any one company. This will require all of us who are building toward this future to create experiences that are not only interoperable but also take the safety of our audiences into account, no matter their age."

In addition, companies must use this process due to different laws in the United States and Europe.

Safer internet for kids

Dylan Collins, the founder of SuperAwesome, spoke about safety on the internet in September last year, especially for a younger audience. He gave an example, many laws and regulations require this kind of verification.

“Regulators around the world have led the charge by introducing laws intended to make the internet safer for kids like COPPA in the US, the Children’s Code in the UK, and GDPR-K in Europe.... Free parent verification is a critical industry step to make it easier for everyone to say yes to kid-safe experiences.”

It will be interesting to see if Epic Games changes anything about this process. However, most likely Fortnite players will have to verify their accounts if they don't want to lose access to them.

Some fans have been playing for more than four years, and losing their account would be a huge shock to them. After all, they have a lot of valuable cosmetic items that are worth a lot of money.

Keywords: fortnite, fortnite social security, fortnite credit cards, fortnite verification