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The Office of Fair Trading has issued new guidelines on the sale of in-game purchases in an attempt to stamp out “potentially unfair and aggressive commercial practices”.
The guidelines (reported by the BBC) state that developers must provide up-front information about the game’s in-app purchases before the game is downloaded, ensure that players are told that they could unlock the content through further play rather than believing they must pay for it, and only taking payment once the bill payer has given “informed consent”. For example, requiring they enter their password to complete the transaction regardless of how recently they last entered it.
Developers are also banned from encouraging sales by using language that may take advantage of children, for example, claiming a character will be disappointed should players not purchase the content.
The OFT’s guidance applies to both app and browser-based games, and developers who fail to follow it may find themselves in breach of consumer protection laws.
Free-to-play games have boomed in recent years, with developers and publishers choosing to release their games for free and to subsidise the cost with the sale of additional content.
This year’s mobile version of FIFA 14, which released earlier this week, is available to download for free, with additional charges for access to other modes.
There have been numerous reports of children unintentionally purchasing thousands of pounds worth of in-game content in recent months.
In June, an 8-year old was reported to have spent £4,000 on in-app purchases. The costs were later wiped by Apple.
Source: bbc.co.uk/news
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