Undertaking date

Undertaking type

s.87B undertaking

Section

Sections 18 and 29(1)(m) of the Australian Consumer Law

Industry

Video game retailing

Company or individual details

  • ZeniMax Media Inc - Company Number 304 565 9
  • ZeniMax Europe Limited - Company Number 063 333 00
  • Name

    ZeniMax Australia Pty Ltd

    ACN

    165 946 690

Undertaking

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accepted a court enforceable undertaking from ZeniMax Media Inc, ZeniMax Europe Limited and ZeniMax Australia Pty Ltd (together, ZeniMax) in relation to misleading representations in relation to the Fallout 76 game about consumers’ statutory rights under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) that were likely to contravene sections 18 and 29(1)(m).

ZeniMax Media Inc creates and publishes original interactive entertainment content for consoles, the PC, and mobile devices. Bethesda Softworks LLC, part of the ZeniMax Media Inc family, published the Fallout 76 game.

ZeniMax has made representations via its customer support representatives and certain online customer support documents to Australian consumers to the effect that:

- Australian consumers had no entitlement to any refunds from ZeniMax for Fallout 76 games purchased through the Bethesda Store which had been downloaded; and/or

- Australian consumers had no entitlement to any refunds from ZeniMax for Fallout 76 games purchased from third party retailers.

ZeniMax acknowledges that its conduct is likely to have misled certain Australian consumers about their rights under the ACL in connection with the statutory consumer guarantees and is likely to have contravened sections 18 and 29(1)(m) of the ACL.

To address the ACCC’s concerns, ZeniMax provided the ACCC with a section 87B undertaking that it will:

  • provide refunds to Australian consumers who contacted ZeniMax between 24 November 2018 and 1 June 2019 to request a refund in relation to their purchase of a Fallout 76 game, and who have not already received one.  Consumers who accept a refund will no longer be entitled to access and play the game;
  • amend its customer service documents and scripts to ensure they do not contain any inaccurate or misleading representations about consumer guarantee rights under the ACL; and
  • commit to implementing an ACL compliance program.