As with many things that grow in popularity, the video games industry is becoming an increasingly regulated space. This is most recently demonstrated by new guidance released by UK advertising regulators around in-app purchases which focus on how these are displayed in-game and communicated in marketing materials.

While brief, the new CAP guidance[1] has the potential to generate significant shifts in current industry practice and is relevant to all games businesses globally that have users in the UK.

Key takeaways

The guidance will likely evolve over time as it starts being enforced. Below are some of the most important points to note at this stage.

Virtual Currencies

The guidance makes a distinction between:

1. virtual currencies that are only obtainable by purchasing with real-money, and
2. virtual currencies that can be bought with real money and earned in-game.

The new guidance generally only applies to the former.

The true cost of virtual currency purchases must be clear, particularly for ‘bundled’ content. The real-world value of in-game items must also be clear. That said, the guidance does not elaborate on what degree of granularity is required for either.

Odd-pricing (i.e. where currency bundles on offer do not match the increments of currency required to purchase items) is still permitted, but external game ads must disclose where the minimum purchasable currency bundle is higher than the smallest in-game purchase.

Marketing messages

In-game ads should not place “undue pressure” on players to make purchases. For example, you should avoid unnecessarily short fail-state countdown timers and messaging suggesting that purchasing will lead to success.Loot boxes are not banned but messaging about odds of winning rare items must not be misleading. Claims that players almost obtained a rare/specific item to encourage additional purchases should be avoided.

Ads for games must not imply that features like items, cosmetics and levels that are only unlockable via additional purchase or through significant play time are obtainable immediately or for free.

Enforcement

As with other CAP guidance, this will be enforced by the ASA. While the ASA itself does not have fining powers, it has operated successfully on a name and shame basis to-date. It also has the power to refer serious and/or persistent offenders to other regulators such as the Competition and Markets Authority which have more significant powers.

The grace period offered by the ASA for in-game content ended in March 2022. Any businesses caught by the guidance should therefore take steps to comply as soon as possible to avoid being hit by a complaint.

This article was first published as part of our “Expert insight on advertising, marketing & sponsorship” publication. Read insights on similar topics in the full publication here. 

[1] https://www.asa.org.uk/resource/guidance-on-advertising-in-game-purchases.html