Mind Candy company violated the rules on the distribution of in-game purchases in children’s games. The English studio was accused of this by the local Advertising Standards Commission ASA (Advertising Standards Authority).
Complaints were caused by a series of Moshi Monsters games. In Google Play, they are declared as games suitable for preschool children. According to the rules recently adopted by the British Office of Fair Competition OFT, creators of games for children must warn users in advance about all possible purchases.
Moshi Monster is also free to play. But at the same time, in some cases, users have seen an offer to buy a paid membership. Moreover, the ASA Advertising Standards Commission had special complaints about the form of submission of this proposal. Players were encouraged to “join right now.” The Commission qualified this as “a team that forced the player to sign up immediately, and was much more noticeable than the offer to close the notification.” Representatives of the Commission did not like a number of other phrases. For example, she found that the sentence “Super-Moshi needs YOU” puts pressure on small players.
Similar claims were made by 55 Pixels and its game Bin Weevils. As a result, both studios were forced to remove controversial offers from their games.
The news was commented by Jo Twist, CEO of UKIE, a non-profit association of game manufacturers in the UK. He noted that the industry “behaves responsibly and makes sure that children are not shown inappropriate advertising messages.”
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is a non-profit UK government department that regulates the principles of trade in the country. It has recently adopted a new set of rules regarding online trading and in-game purchases.
A source: http://www.bbc.com
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