Also receives $20 million fine.
Genshin Impact developer HoYoverse is about to get a big bill in the mail. A paltry sum for a game that has brought in billions of dollars in revenue, and one that is likely to be shelved as just the cost of doing business, but a big bill nonetheless.
HoYoverse was sued by the United States Department of Justice based on a Federal Trade Commission complaint that the company was up to not good. Particularly the complaint accused Genshin Impact of violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) by illegally collecting and using personal information from players they knew were children without obtaining parental consent.
“Genshin Impact deceived children, teens, and other players into spending hundreds of dollars on prizes they stood little chance of winning,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Companies that deploy these dark-pattern tactics will be held accountable if they deceive players, particularly kids and teens, about the true costs of in-game transactions.”
Genshin Impact was also accused of using a confusing virtual currency system to obfuscate the real cost of loot boxes, as well as deceiving players on the odds of obtaining high-demand powerful characters.
Under the agreement, HoYoverse will pay $20 million USD in fines. They will be prohibited from allowing children under 16 to purchase loot boxes without parental consent, will be required to allow customers to buy loot boxes with direct real money, cannot misrepresent loot boxes including a disclosure of odds and exchange rates, and must delete customer info from people under 13.
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