Game Over: How Gaming Providers Manipulate Users

• Online games manipulate consumers through purchase prompts, non-transparent prices for virtual items, and other design tricks
• Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband has issued cease-and-desist letters to all five tested gaming providers
• The Digital Fairness Act must offer stronger protection against manipulative design

Manipulative designs (dark patterns) are widespread in online games, as demonstrated by a study conducted by the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband). Countdowns, opaque in-game currencies, or rewards for daily logins are intended to entice users to spend more money or more time in the game. The five examined online games and platforms (Fortnite, Roblox, Clash of Clans, Monopoly Go, Subway Surfers) also include, from Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband’s perspective, unlawful purchase prompts aimed at children, non-transparent prices, or misleading discount offers for virtual items. Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband has issued cease-and-desist letters to the respective providers.

“Online games can become an expensive pastime when providers use tricks to lure players into spending money on virtual items,” says Sabrina Wagner, specialist in the Digital Market Monitoring Team at Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband. “The problem is even worse when users are not aware of how much money they are spending because the total is hidden in bundle prices or displayed in a virtual currency.”

Manipulation through Design: Providers entice spending

Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband identified numerous design tricks in the examined online games: These include pop-up windows with purchase offers during gameplay, countdowns, confusing costs for virtual items, or rewards when users watch ads. All examined games thus contained elements that can encourage users to spend more money or more time in the game.

“Manipulations and design tricks in online games can lead users to play excessively. It is hard to recognize that you are being influenced because these tricks deliberately exploit human behaviour. Some mechanisms can pull users into a real vortex,” says Wagner.

Europe-wide enforcement action

To better protect users from such practices, Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband calls on the European Commission to adapt consumer law to digital reality. Manipulative designs that aim to steer consumers online toward certain behaviours must be banned, and clear requirements for Fairness by Design must be established. Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband will publish a position paper with corresponding demands in the coming weeks and participate in the preparatory consultation of the European Commission for the Digital Fairness Act.

Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband participated in the “Game Over” action of the European Consumer Organisation BEUC with the field study and five cease-and-desist proceedings. Four of the five proceedings have already been concluded with the submission of cease-and-desist declarations. In one case, Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband has filed a lawsuit against the online platform Roblox.

BEUC, together with Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband and consumer protection organizations from 16 other countries, filed a complaint with the European Commission in September 2024 to highlight unfair practices by leading gaming providers.

Method

Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband examined the following five providers: Epic Games (Game: Fortnite, Platform: Epic Games Store), Roblox Corporation (Game: Adopt me!, Platform: Roblox), Supercell (Game: Clash of Clans), Scopely (Game: Monopoly Go), Sybo ApS (Game: Subway Surfers). The selection of providers for this field study was based, among other things, on the BEUC-coordinated “Game Over” action.

The evaluation used a previously developed checklist based on defined checkpoints. The most current versions of the games were tested on a Samsung Galaxy S23 (Android 14). The games were downloaded via the Google Play Store or the Epic Games Store. The field study took place between July 23 and September 23, 2024.