‘Manipulative designs’ in mobile and online games
An examination of mobile and online games by consumer watchdogs has found what they describe as “manipulative design techniques”.
More than 20 national consumer agencies – including the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) – took part in an international sweep of 439 mobile and online games to identify potential consumer harms.
The CCPC said that the sweep, co-ordinated by the International Consumer Protection Enforcement Network (ICPEN), found several design techniques that may aim to manipulate players as young as three into making decisions or purchases they would not otherwise make.
Information withheld
The practice uncovered include:
- Sneaking: Where information is intentionally withheld or hidden – for example the real-world price of virtual in-game currencies,
- Nagging: Repeated, seemingly endless notifications or reminders, leading to a player agreeing to an action, such as make an in-app purchase, out of frustration, and
- Obstruction: Where a game is intentionally designed to block a player in a certain way that frustrates them into making a decision or purchase to progress further.
The organisations said that the sweep also focused on other potentially harmful consumer practices in how games used ‘loot boxes’ – in-game rewards that can be bought with real or virtual currency, or earned by watching in-game ads or spending time in the game.
The analysis found that only 30% of games with loot boxes disclosed the presence of this monetisation mechanism at the download stage.
‘Urgency-style tactics’
It also found that loot boxes, in-game purchases, and in-game advertisements were just as common in games rated ages three and up as they were in any other age group.
The sweep also uncovered what the watchdog describes as “urgency-style tactics” aimed at pressuring players to buy items that were only available for a limited time, when this may have been untrue.
The CCPC said that it would assess the outcome of the sweep for potential breaches of EU and Irish consumer-protection law.