Rise Of Microtransactions

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Rise Of Microtransactions

Video games are now becoming a hot source of moral panic due to the presence and increasing prominence of micro transactions.  Simply type in ‘kids steal parent’s money/credit card for Fortnite’ and watch as a significant quantity of results are displayed. Sometimes, there is even live footage of their confessions and their parents’ reactions. Some kids have even spent a few thousand dollars on these micro transactions and they usually obtained the money through nefarious means such as stealing their parents’ credit card to purchase virtual items Due to their lack of self-control at such a young age, they often get out of control without any knowledge of the consequences of their actions. Thus, it is important that parents know about the existence of micro transactions so that they could keep track of their finances and whether their children have been purchasing in-app transactions without their permissions.

What are micro transactions?

Let’s begin with a more detailed description of micro transactions. Micro transactions are purchases within a video game. They can be in the form of new downloadable content or in-game currency that allows for players to purchase cosmetics, luxury items or even performance boosters. For instance, video games like NBA 2K19 sells Virtual Currency (VC) which can be used to redeem better and higher-rated players in the game. The prices of micro transactions can range from a mere dollar to $100. The difference in content is that the $100 micro transaction usually boosts the player’s power levels to a much higher point than a normal free-to-play player. While micro transactions used to be rare, it is now everywhere and practically unavoidable in modern video games. Free-to-play games tend to have much more micro transactions available as that is their main source of income. Other than gameplay upgrades, there are also digital slot machines in the form of ‘loot boxes’ where players can opt to open a number of in-game chests in order to have a minimal chance at unlocking an item of extremely high rarity.

The danger

In this era where online transactions are so convenient at the press of a mouse, it is very easy for our children to succumb to temptation and make many careless purchases at whim. Many of the in-app purchases are priced at a small amount which reduce the guilt your child may feel at making the purchase. Moreover, the social pressure and temptation of owning a rare item that only drops 0.01% of the time may be too tempting for some children to pass up on. Thus, they may splurge on loot boxes in attempt to get the coveted item drop that they can brag to their friends about. If the parent decides to monitor their credit card statements, it would be extremely tedious as each there would be numerous transactions of $1.99-$4.99. Thus the amount spent may seem negligible upon a quick glance, but more meticulous parents will learn that the total amount of money spent on transactions could easily amount up to thousands. Relying on mobile authentication or checking emails can be risky if your children know show to access your accounts as well. There have been many horror stories surfacing across the internet of children deleting emails and messages that have been sent to their parents by the credit card companies, thus leaving them oblivious of their children’s expenses until it’s too late. It’s important to understand that children lack discipline and impulse control at their young age and that it’s not that we are raising a serial gambler.

Damage Control

What can parents do? Firstly, the obvious measure to take is to remove your credit card details from all mobile devices in the house. Credit card details must thus be manually typed in for any transaction on Google Play Store or the Apple Store. Next, teaching your children the importance of finances early on can be extremely beneficial. Elaborate on the dangers of impulsive buying and gambling and use anecdotes or books to teach them the consequences of addiction and financial irresponsibility. Is there any way to recover the money spent? Parents can attempt to contact the credit card company or the game developers in an attempt to obtain a refund. Some companies such as Steam and Epic Games have refund policies but of limited durations. For instance, Epic Games (Developer Of Fortnite) only refunds the last three purchases in a 30-Day span, which is rather pointless if the child makes a large quantity of small purchases.  On the flip side, Credit card companies such as MasterCard have zero-liability policies that may allow for you to reclaim the entire amount as long as the unauthorized purchase is reported. Do note that the term ‘unauthorized’ can be contested by the credit card company and that they will launch their own investigations. Thus, your claim is not a surefire bet to succeed.

Legislative Actions

Thankfully, lawmakers and regulatory bodies have noticed the damaging effects of micro transactions and are investigating if loot boxes can be classified as gambling. If so, they can be then restricted by age similarly to casinos and the lottery. ESRB is also planning to update its ratings system to include micro transactions. Parents will thus be able to see the label ‘In-Game Purchases’ on the label and take necessary precautions if they desire to do so. In China, authorities have mandated that video games that contain loot boxes display the numerical odds of obtaining each item inside. Henceforth, while its disheartening to note that micro transactions are only going to be more prevalent due to their considerable revenue; we can hope that government bodies and legal institutions implement measures to restrict their accessibility to children.