Mediatonic has issued an apology after an ill-designed store interface caused players to inadvertently purchase items from the Fall Guys in-game store. This comes just weeks after the game launched as a free-to-play title and migrated to the Epic Games Store.
The core issue at play was an update to the purchasing page that deceptively completed a transaction when players attempted to preview in-game items. Players on Reddit have also observed other bugs, such as items being swapped before completing a deliberate purchase, non-standard inputs inadvertently confirming button presses, and more.
The situation was exacerbated when players attempting to refund their purchases received a frosty reaction from a Mediatonic support representative named “Steve.” “Please let me correct something from your response,” the message began .
(Raise your hands if you’ve already felt secondhand dread from reading that sentence).
“You have stated that this is a ‘bugged purchase’ and a ‘known issue’. Neither of these things is the case.”
The support representative dismissed that the purchase was a bug, and also declared it was “not a known issue” before enforcing the company’s EULA, which states that refunds are not available for purchases from the in-game store. It didn’t go over well.
A few hours after news of this incident went wide at sites like Video Game Chronicle, Mediatonic began scrambling to make things right. It announced plans to change the design of its in-game store, promised refunds for purchases made since June 21, 2022, and is now giving away
We heard your feedback on accidental purchases – and we’re sorry!
To make it right:
✨ We’re improving the store design to prevent this
✨ All refund requests for cosmetics from 21st June 2022 will be honoured until we improve the store
✨ We’re giving everyone GRANDIS 👇 pic.twitter.com/L7Bsz9nbg8— Fall Guys… FREE FOR ALL! 👑 (@FallGuysGame) July 15, 2022
Mediatonic is fixing its Fall Guys pratfall
In a statement to Game Developer, a Mediatonic spokesperson apologized profusely for the error and directly addressed the issue of the testy customer support representative. “What is happening in the game is not intended and we are actively fixing it,” the representative wrote.
“The customer service response was also not acceptable and we will offer a make good for all affected.”
What’s slightly disappointing about this turn of events is that it appears this storefront error was happening for at least a week, and Mediatonic (now owned by Epic Games) only acted after the press took an interest in the story.
Surprise storefront bugs are a bug that live service game developers have to face. Hopefully Mediatonic’s experience here can be a lesson for the studio, its parent company, and other developers.
