Dutch blast game developers for failing to protect online gamers

The Dutch consumer watchdog – the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) – wants stronger consumer protections for online gamers in upcoming EU regulation, according to a position paper published on Thursday.

The Digital Fairness Act (DFA), which the Commission is set to propose next year, is expected to strengthen protections for online consumers.

In the position paper ahead of the upcoming legislation, the ACM said it wants the EU to regulate the video game industry – including addressing issues related to sales of in-game digital content.

Measures to protect gamers’ mental health by tackling excessive time spent gaming should also be included, in the ACM’s view.

More generally, the watchdog is worried about so-called online attention farming.

“An increasing number of businesses rely on the retention of consumers’ attention as a way of generating revenue,” it wrote, calling for the DFA to broaden the scope of consumer rules to protect gamers from “harmful commercial practices” that seek to maximise time spent gaming.

The ACM paper also pushes for the DFA to clarify that consumer rules do apply to “in-game economies”, broadly meaning the mechanisms that game developers set up to enable transactions around digital content like virtual objects.

The watchdog suggests requiring that in-game purchases – say to buy a new weapon or outfit for a gamer’s avatar – are made with real money, rather than virtual coins or digital currencies, to avoid any misunderstandings over how consumer rights apply. So, effectively, it’s calling for a ban on in-game currencies.

As an alternative, the ACM’s paper said the DFA should clarify the legal status of in-game virtual currencies. It also advocates for a ban on minors buying  such currencies.

The Commission’s public consultation for the DFA – which closed last week – received a plethora of responses from the gaming sector, both from gamers themselves, who want to see rules introduced, and game developers who are pushing for the sector to be left alone.

(nl)