The Office of Fair Trading is looking at whether users – particularly children – are unfairly pressured into paying for additional content for an app which they thought was free, reports Tech Week Europe.
'Freemium'
Leading games such as Zynga’s popular ‘Farmville’ and EA’s ‘Real Racing 3’ have adopted a ‘freemium’ model, meaning that while the games are free to download, install and play, the chance to unlock additional content quickly is available through in-app purchases.
Several recent incidents of children purchasing thousands of pounds worth of in-app content – without their parents’ knowledge – have sparked the OFT investigation, with reports suggesting complaints to the UK’s regulator of phone services have risen 300 per cent.
'Enforcement action'
Cavendish Elithorn, OFT senior director for goods and consumer, commented: ‘The OFT is not seeking to ban in-game purchases, but the games industry must ensure it is complying with the relevant regulations so that children are protected. We are speaking to the industry and will take enforcement action if necessary.’
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