BEUC [the European Consumer Organisation] and 22 of its member organisations from 17 countries have filed a complaint on 12 September 2024 to the European Commission and the network of consumer protection Authorities (CPC-Network) to denounce several deceptive practices by leading video game companies (Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Mojang Studios, Roblox Corporation, Supercell and Ubisoft) marketing popular games (such as Fortnite, EA Sports FC 24, Minecraft, Clash of Clans and others) and affecting millions of European consumers.
The Norwegian Consumer Council’s @finnmyrstad posted a thread about it on Mastodon:
2/ 🕹 According to our analysis, these companies are using misleading tactics that do not comply with the EU rules on unfair commercial practices. In particular we identified that:
🎰 Gamers cannot see the real cost of digital items, leading to overspending.
💵 Companies’ claims that gamers prefer in-game premium currencies are wrong.
⚖ Consumers are often denied their rights when using premium in-game currencies.
🚸 Children are vulnerable to these manipulative tactics.
Yes please be successful.
Screw all indirect “currencies”, screw all “lootboxes”, screw aggressive sales tactics with “limited offers” for digital goods like Skins.
I think there should be a mandatory counter that is present at any ingame purchase, informing you how much money you have spent on the game in total and in the past year or so. If people want to whale because they love a game so much and they think their 50 € waifu-skin is worth it, so be it. But they should have all the means to make this decision with the best possible level of information.