An EU consumer watchdog organization has submitted a complaint to EU authorities regarding the use of premium currency in games, which the organization says "maximizes consumers' spending" and constitutes "manipulative spending tactics".
In a press release summarizing the complaint, BEUC (Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs, otherwise known as the European Consumer Organization) says games like Fortnite, EA Sports FC, and Minecraft engage in "unfair practices" via their premium currency systems.
The group's director general, Agustín Reyna, says the group has "identified numerous cases where gamers are misled into spending money", and that "deceptive practices must be stopped". BEUC is calling on the EU to "ensure that traders play by the rules" and provide safe environments for gamers and children.
BEUC says it's identified four main problem areas with regards to premium currency in gaming.
The first is that consumers "cannot see the real cost of digital items" when premium currency is sold in bundles or the price of the currency is not transparent. The group therefore recommends all in-game purchases be displayed in real-money terms.
According to the group, companies that claim players prefer in-game currency "are wrong"; BEUC says its data shows consumers "find this unnecessary step misleading" and would prefer simply to use real money for their purchases.
Third, BEUC says consumers "are often denied their rights" when making premium currency purchases, and that publishers often tie these purchases to "unfair terms favoring game developers".
Finally, the group says children are "even more vulnerable" to the unfair practices it's complaining about. It points to data showing that children in Europe make around €39 worth of purchases per month in games (that's about $43).
BEUC's full report makes a number of recommendations to combat this problem, including assessing a potential ban on premium currency sale for in-game and in-app purchases, as well as "stricter transparency requirements" in EU consumer law and "stronger consumer protection and regulation".
If this seems like a waltz we've danced before, that's because it is, specifically with regards to predatory practices implemented with systems like loot boxes, microtransactions, and battle passes.
In-game monetization, especially in single-player games, is becoming a dirty term among players, leading to games like Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 pledging not to include any (although that doesn't stop games like Dragon's Dogma 2 locking features behind microtransactions, bizarrely).
If you'd like to, you can read BEUC's full report here. Of course, it's not legally binding right now; it remains to be seen whether EU authorities will make changes based on this report or not, but its conclusions are pretty compelling. Watch this space for more.
