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Recently, Epic Games rolled out a change to their account system aimed at protecting the younger people on their store and it has caused issues for the Heroic Games Launcher.

Epic announced a change in a blog post recently, for their new "Cabined Accounts" that provide "a tailored experience that is safe and inclusive for younger players while maintaining access to the gameplay you love in Fortnite".

A side-effect, is that the cross-platform free and open source Heroic Games Launcher can seemingly no longer download games unless you do this, leading to people believing that the issue is Heroic breaking. What you'll need to do, if you use it for Steam Deck or Linux desktop, is to either log out of Epic on Heroic and log back in which should bring up the prompt to add your date of birth, or add it on the Epic Games website to your account there.

That should get you back into working order if you didn't have it there already.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Apps, Epic Games, Misc
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11 comments
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blindcoder Dec 19, 2022
Good thing my birthday is canonically Jan 1st 1970 ;)
1xok Dec 19, 2022
I wish they had that option on Steam. But it should always be an option, not a requirement. As a German, I am subjected to ridiculous and completely arbitrary restrictions. With Left 4 Dead 2, it took over 10 years until you could play it uncut in Germany. The latest victim of German censorship is Dead Island 2. It's annoying because you keep bumping into it. Most recently I wanted to try Sleeping Dogs, but I didn't because I don't want to play the German censored version. The game is 10 years old but still censored in Germany.

Would give Valve money to let me register on Steam as an adult.
fearnflavio Dec 19, 2022
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Thanks for sharing this, Liam. A lot of people were confused since this change happened just after a new Heroic version was released and our Discord was full of people with issues and saying something like: After the new update, everything broke, I cannot install anything, etc.

And we were like: What!? checking code, testing stuff just to realize was on Epic's end. ahahahah
BlackBloodRum Dec 19, 2022
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It's Epic... taking your birthday information is the least of your concern.
Seegras Dec 19, 2022
So they've been sued and convicted for privacy-violations, and they decided to add another one?

Hint: If your behaviour is violating the privacy of kids, the solution is not to ask for a birthdate (which, by the way, already violates the privacy of kids) to only violate the privacy of adults.
Caenth Dec 19, 2022
Yeah, I just leave these ones here:
- https://www.polygon.com/23516827/epic-games-ftc-settlement-fortnite-privacy-refunds
- https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/12/epic-will-pay-520-million-to-settle-ftc-privacy-payment-complaints/
- https://wccftech.com/epic-games-to-pay-520m-to-the-ftc-as-settlement-over-fortnite-privacy-case/

I'm sure you can find more reports yourself, the whole internet is littered with them.

This birthday requirement is not for the protection of the children, but to be able to single them out and abuse them ever more. I do not trust Epic with kids.

They make a good engine, but everything else they touch reeks and has ill intent. The whole sage with their Epic Games Store is a good example.
Liam Dawe Dec 19, 2022
Quoting: CaenthYeah, I just leave these ones here:
- https://www.polygon.com/23516827/epic-games-ftc-settlement-fortnite-privacy-refunds
- https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/12/epic-will-pay-520-million-to-settle-ftc-privacy-payment-complaints/
- https://wccftech.com/epic-games-to-pay-520m-to-the-ftc-as-settlement-over-fortnite-privacy-case/

I'm sure you can find more reports yourself, the whole internet is littered with them.
You mean like on our front page 3 hours before you commented :P
InhaleOblivion Dec 19, 2022
Clearly they've learned nothing from all the privacy violations which have already hurt their reputation.
Caenth Dec 20, 2022
Quoting: Liam DaweYou mean like on our front page 3 hours before you commented :P

Hey, don't judge me for living in a different timezone! ;-)
DudeMcCrackstink Dec 21, 2022
Ummm they don't have to put their actual birthday. They lie about the age everywhere else anyway, why not here.
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