Mobile games are enjoying raging popularity in recent years. Whether paid or freely downloaded ones, their storylines, graphic designs and characters are meticulously produced with vivid details. Combined with the tantalising scenery or strong visual impact generated by the lighting effects, players are presented with the most enthralling sensory experience. Deeply fascinated by the game settings, players can no longer tell the difference between the real and virtual world.
While deeply immersed in the captivating virtual world, consumers are prone to overlook the fact that, developers are all set to seek profits, via such ways as displaying advertisement or selling virtual or real products. Even games that claims to be "freely downloadable" contain hidden charges. Once started, players will find that only certain functions are free; when they reach a certain level, they need to pay to achieve a higher level or they need to purchase virtual "props" or "treasures" to expand the ability to fight. Nowadays many mobile games are designed for players to compete against each other. Some players who are determined to win may find themselves spending a large sum of money on these games.
Many game apps offer a number of payment options including paying through pre-set credit card auto deduction, purchase of stored value or token cards. However, consumers may easily overlook the terms and conditions of the transactions. When problems occur, consumers could only resort to contacting the developers through emails or social media platforms and passively wait for their feedback, thus resulting in many consumer disputes. The Consumer Council reminds the consumers to be aware of the risks involved in putting their money into the virtual world, and avoid addiction to the games to prevent any loss.
Case: Dispute over "lucky draw" for rare game characters
Through the social media platform the complainant learned that the developer had launched a "lucky draw" of rare game characters. At 300 tokens per bid, the advertisement claimed that the chances of acquiring such rare characters would be enhanced. The complainant tried over 300 draws with a total spending of more than $8,000 – but still to no avail. He complained that the developer's advertisement was untruthful and questioned if the company had really raised the draw chances and demanded a reasonable explanation and refund of some of the tokens spent.
The Council contacted the developer who noted that the draw was based on a fixed rate for the appearance of the characters; the number of draws one takes does not guarantee success. Also it is stipulated in the terms and conditions that refund of purchased tokens or products will not be entertained and, therefore, no compensation will be made.
Case: Children's misuse mobile game and generated "shocking bill"
The 9-year-old son of the complainant was left to play with the mobile game and while playing bought items worth a total value of $13,500. After reviewing, the complainant found that the game app had stored her credit card information upon registration. Once "the button was pressed", a transaction will occur and no re-entering of password is required. The complainant deemed that the game app sales platform processed a transaction without requesting the user to provide password and such lack of security could easily lead to accidental purchases. She demanded all transactions via the mobile app sales platform without her authority be refunded. Once her request was declined, she sought assistance from the Council.
In its reply to the Council, the mobile app sales platform maintained that the transactions were bound by the applicable terms and conditions and unless the extraordinary had arisen, no refund would be made. In spite of the reconciliation of the Council the company would not accede to the complainant's request for refund. The complainant was advised to seek legal opinion or pursue her claim through civil litigation.
To avoid game entertainment turning into financial loss, consumers are urged to pay attention to the following tips:
- Consumers should understand that mobile games are a form of entertainment and should not spend excessively to feed the "desire to win", thus aggravating their own or family economic burden. Furthermore, whenever a game developer promotes a special limited offer or activity to stimulate sales growth, stay calm, rational and do not indulge in the games;
- Consumers should communicate more often with their children. Pay special attention to the nature of the mobile games and see if they contain violence or gambling elements to evaluate if the games are suitable for their children. By instilling a proper set of values into their children, they can help prevent these children from indulging in the virtual world;
- Before downloading any mobile games, find out if their services involve any payments and the pricing information;
- Before making any payment, read the terms and conditions and payment details;
- Never, for the sake of convenience, store any credit card information or password in the mobile apps;
- Keep the important information safe. Such information include the game account numbers, the names of their characters in the games, the registered emails and transaction related documents, in case one needs to contact the game developers to pursue their claims;
- Pre-set passwords on their mobile phones to restrict usage and prevent unauthorised transactions;
- Some mobile games may require to be connected to the internet and switch on GPS functions. Consumers should regularly check their data usage to avoid paying extra for exceeding their data usage limit.
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