The FTC orders the developer of Genshin Impact to ban teenagers from making in-game purchases

Children and young adults may soon be unable to play Genshin Impact’s gachas. The developer behind the game agreed to prevent players under the age of 16 from making in-game purchases without parental consent to settle a complaint from the Federal Trade Commission. It also agreed to pay a $20 million fine. Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said “Genshin Impact tricked children, teenagers, and other players into spending hundreds of dollars on prizes they had little chance of winning.”

The developer’s marketing is aimed at children, the commission said in its complaint, and the company also violated COPPA by collecting personal information from children under 13. HoYoverse, a US developer organization, is accused of deceiving players “about the conditions for winning” its rare loot box. rewards and uses a confusing virtual currency system that is not suitable for children and young people. The FTC says this misleads players about how much they have to spend in order to get rare prizes. Genshin Impact uses a gacha system instead of the usual loot box mechanic, where players can “pull” banners to win a random item or character.

Under the FTC’s proposed order, it seeks to prevent Genshin Impact from selling loot boxes using virtual currency unless it also offers the option to buy them directly with real money. It wants to prevent the developer from exploiting the problems and processes of the loot box, and it wants the company to disclose the possibilities of gachas and the exchange rate of virtual currency. The commission wants to order HoYoverse to delete personal information collected from children up to 13 unless it is obtained with parental consent, too. A federal judge must still approve the proposed order and all of these requirements, however, before it can be immediately enforced.