The Swedish Consumer Protection Authority filed a complaint with the European Union against a game. Now, the European Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPC) is responding with new guidelines for something that bothers all players: microtransactions.
What happened? The Swedish Consumer Protection Authority filed a complaint with the CPC against the developers of the equestrian game Star Stable Online. The CPC reviewed the complaint as well as information from the company regarding commercial practices, also known as microtransactions, that children might encounter in the game.
In the process, they found the following violations of existing consumer protection laws and points that could specifically harm children. Among other things, children in the game would be directly addressed and encouraged to purchase items and currencies. Furthermore, a lack of transparency and pressure from time-limited offers was criticized.
The developers of Star Stable Online have until March 21, 2025, to respond in writing to the CPC regarding these issues and to propose improvements. Meanwhile, the European consumer protection agency published a report with new rules for in-game purchases.
Microtransactions have been annoying players for a while:
The future of microtransactions? Everything should get better in the EU
What are the new rules? The CPC published an eight-page report with principles for virtual in-game currencies. The report can be downloaded from the official website of the European Commission.
Specifically, the CPC lists seven principles that define the minimum requirements for purchasing and using virtual currencies:
- There must be clear and transparent pricing
- Practices that obscure the costs of digital content and services in games should be avoided
- Practices that force consumers to purchase unwanted in-game currency should be avoided
- Players should be provided with clear and understandable information even before the purchase
- The consumer’s right of withdrawal should be respected
- Contract clauses should be fair and written in clear, understandable language
- The vulnerability of consumers should be taken into account, especially when it comes to children
In the report, the CPC also specifies clear measures to be taken for affected companies. Here is an example of the principle for clearer pricing:
What could this mean in practice? Microtransactions and in-game currencies will remain for now, even with these new guidelines. However, pricing may become more transparent. In addition, it may become more difficult for companies to directly address children and adolescents under 18 with their offers.
As early as September 2024, an organization from the European Union addressed one of the core issues for gamers: The European Consumer Organization criticized that the current rules and laws regarding microtransactions and in-game currencies are insufficient. MeinMMO has summarized the findings for you: European organization speaks out on what many players have long desired after investigating real-money currencies
