BEUC files complaint on manipulative spending tactics in video games

The Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs (BEUC), the European consumer organization that represents the interests of all European consumers, has submitted a complaint to European authorities regarding unfair practices of the video gaming industry.

According to BEUC, gaming companies like Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts (EA), Epic Games, Mojang Studios, Roblox Corporation, Supercell, and Ubisoft manipulate gamers into buying an egregious number of in-game items.

The interest group concludes that these gaming companies breach EU consumer protection laws in several ways. For example, due to the lack of transparency of premium in-game currencies, gamers cannot see the real cost of digital items, which needlessly causes them to spend more of their hard earned money.

The companies claim that gamers prefer in-game currency over real money, but BEUC says it’s actually the other way around: many gamers consider buying in-game currency an unnecessary step and prefer buying in-game items directly with real money.

In addition, gamers are often denied their rights when using in-game currency, because they are tied to unfair terms favoring game developers.

Lastly, children are more susceptible to manipulative tactics of gaming companies. It’s this target audience that plays video games the most, but at the same time they have limited understanding of financial terms and are easily swayed by virtual currencies.

“The online world brings new challenges for consumer protection, and it shouldn’t be a place where companies bend the rules to increase profits. BEUC’s members have identified numerous cases where gamers are misled into spending money. Regulators must act, making it clear that even though the gaming world is virtual, it still needs to abide by real-world rules,” Agustín Reyna, Director General of BEUC, says in a press release.

In order to protect gamers of all ages, BEUC and 22 member organizations from 17 countries have alerted the European Commission and the European Network of Consumer Authorities (CPC-Network) on how the gaming industry works and tries to manipulate the spending habits of consumers.