The Epic Games Store and its shaky Mega Sale are back making headlines. This time, it appears that the storefront has been blocking people who have been making too many purchases too quickly. The reason: it’s all a part of the Epic Store’s “aggressive fraud rules,” which has been flagging users as possible fraudsters.
“This was a result of our aggressive fraud rules,” Nick Chester, senior PR for Epic, told GameRevolution. “If players run into this issue, they should contact player support so we can investigate.”
Twitch streamer Patrick Boivin brought attention to the issue in a colorful fashion on Twitter. According to Boivin, he purchased five games from the store, before receiving a message that his account was blocked from making purchases. In other words, he bought too many games in a short period of time, causing his account to get flagged. Of course, most people would likely take up the issue with Epic as per Chester’s suggestion.
Boivin, however, believes the problem at a more fundamental level with the store itself. Namely, that the Epic Games Store doesn’t have a shopping cart. Naturally, this means that during an event that inspires users to make many purchases, such as, oh, let’s say during a Mega Sale, they’ll more than likely trigger Epic’s fraud alert.
Jumping the gun
Last week, multiple games were removed from the Epic Game Store in a flurry of sale confusion. Both Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 and Oxygen Not Included were taken off the storefront, supposedly because the publishers were trying to dodge a $10 USD discount offer. Hades developer Supergiant Games also found itself under the spotlight, as the game’s price took a roller coaster ride.
Epic was perhaps too eager to begin its first major sales event. Issues and problems have been cropping up left and right since the Mega Sale went live on May 16. Of course, one could chalk it all up to growing pains. However, Epic has shown a lack of foresight with its sale that has left plenty of its users with grievances. It’s as that old adage says: you should always look before you leap.
[Cheers, GameRevolution]
