The British government formulates new regulations: the sword refers to game advertising, in-game purchases

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GameLook report/For some time now, many people may feel deeply about the regulation of the game industry. Both the protection of minors and user privacy policies have touched the nerves of global game practitioners.

Of course, considering the growing market size of the game industry, the social responsibilities that need to be undertaken behind it will naturally become more and more important. Since going overseas has become an unavoidable choice for most domestic game companies, the supervision of overseas game markets also requires the attention of industry peers.

Just last weekend, the UK’s Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) issued a new regulation for in-game purchases and in-game advertising, aiming to ensure that in-game advertising is more transparent to consumers. The new regulations involve multiple topics, such as the purchase of virtual currency, packaged promotional items, odd pricing (fraction pricing), and limited-time promotions.

So, what exactly does this new regulation say and what does it mean for overseas game companies?

Please see the detailed content compiled by GameLook:

In-game purchase ads must not mislead users to consume

CAP insists that game companies should clearly indicate the price they need to pay for in-game products, but currently most game companies’ execution is limited to the virtual currency that needs to be purchased.

On the whole, the new regulations are mainly to ensure that in-game purchase advertisements do not mislead players’ consumption. For example, the regulations mention:

“Marketing communication must be responsible to consumers and society, and must not be misleading or inclined to misleading behavior. Marketing communication must not mislead consumers by omitting material information, and it is not allowed to mislead consumers in unclear, difficult to understand, ambiguous or untimely ways. .”

The agency pointed out that if the marketing communication medium is limited by time or space, marketers need to adopt other methods to deliver the message. For marketing communications that mention the price of an advertised product, the material information should include: the tax-included price of the advertised product, or, if the nature of the product makes the price unable to be calculated in advance, the price calculation method should be announced.

The new CAP regulations include in-game advertising and e-commerce content. If virtual currency can only be obtained through real currency payment, then stores and any incentives to purchase items will be considered as advertisements within the CAP specification. Because in this case, virtual currency directly acts as a substitute for real currency, and consumption decisions are equivalent to direct consumption of cash.

However, if the virtual currency can be obtained in the game, it will itself be regarded as an in-game resource, regardless of whether the player can purchase it directly. In this case, it is not regarded as a substitute for cash, so incentives to obtain such virtual currency will not be regarded as advertising by the new CAP regulations.

Judging from the requirements of the new regulations, the marketing of in-game virtual currency needs to be more precise. “The price of virtual currency must be clear, especially when the price of a promotional package varies according to the size (for example, £5 for 100 points, and £7 for 200 points).”

CAP stated that advertisers can compare different gift packages, and the comparison criteria should be clear and not inclined to be misleading. For example, the “best value” should clearly state the unit price rather than the price of the entire package, and the “cheapest” should be related to the entire package rather than the unit price. If it can be obtained through time waiting or free game play, then marketers should not claim that the currency or item can only be obtained for a fee.

CAP also stated that consumers have the right to know the odd-numbered pricing in the game. The document stated, “When the increment of the currency package does not match the increment of the virtual currency price, there will be odd-numbered pricing, which means that all players have to buy Purchase items with virtual currency exceeding the demand.”

For promotional gift packages with more content, when a large number of items are packaged and sold at a discount, advertisers should ensure that all the money-saving statements should be truly experienced by the players, and should not be specifically based on the unit price (discount) of the highest-priced items in the package. publicity.

Can not force players to consume: immersive marketing should provide sufficient information for decision-making

In-app purchases and advertisements occur under specific gameplay environments, time pressures, and (sometimes) probabilities, so in-app purchase promotions that accompany immersive gameplay can easily mislead consumers. For example, pop-ups to purchase additional resources to complete or retry failed levels, or skip the waiting time, etc., will bring pressure to players in in-app purchases.

The new CAP regulations point out that marketers should avoid using gameplay that puts pressure on players or require players to make purchase decisions without getting enough information, nor can they mislead players to make direct purchases. This information may include: shortening the countdown, implying payment There will be successful, complex promotions and consumption that requires a lot of money.

In addition, if the advertisement can be seen directly by children, then it should not provide direct persuasion to purchase or parental guardianship must be required to purchase.

Similarly, for the common (random) gashapon/ten-drawing gameplay in many games, CAP stated that marketers need to pay attention to ensuring that the probability of consumers obtaining rare items is not misled when promoting information about such items, especially if it takes multiple times. When buying.

For example, (every time the result is random) cannot directly or indirectly imply that rare/specific items will be obtained in the next purchase; if the probability of obtaining an item does not change with multiple purchases, it cannot imply that the next purchase will obtain a specific item The probability of increased; if the output is based on probability rather than skills, it is not allowed to imply that the player is likely to obtain rare/specific items.

False promotion is not allowed, non-game play should be indicated in the advertisement

For many games, limited-time in-app purchases are a common and easy way to realize rapid revenue growth, such as seasonal decorative item promotions or Battle Pass.

CAP stated that if an item is available again, advertisers should be careful not to imply that the item is only available at a specific time or through a specific purchase route.

“This type of information will depend on many factors, such as the form of the advertisement and other content in the advertisement. According to past experience, this information does not need to be particularly prominent, but it should be ensured that consumers can easily access and directly inquire. The promotion of random items should be tight After in-game purchases, the use of PEGI tags may be a reasonable way to publish this information, but advertisers can also provide it in other forms.”

In addition, CAP also encourages marketers to provide more information about the types of in-app purchases included in the game. For example, whether in-app purchases are purely cosmetic, are they limited to “big ticket” consumption such as DLC or season tickets, or whether they include other types of consumption.

In addition to in-app purchases, the new CAP regulations also make new requirements for game advertising:

“Although it is legal for advertisers to add optional additional content in marketing, it should be noted that it cannot imply that items that need to be purchased further are included in the basic game. Content that requires purchase or a large amount of game time should not be advertised as easily or Content that can be obtained by ordinary gameplay. Therefore, if the content may affect consumers’ decision to buy or download games, the advertisement should clearly indicate whether the content is paid for or unlocked by playing the game. Marketing communications should not imply that the content can be directly obtained.”

Regarding the misleading advertising content that prevails in the industry, the new regulations require advertisers to pay attention to ensuring that the gameplay displayed in the advertisement represents the game itself. If the graphics or sound in the advertisement is not in the real gameplay, they should avoid misleading consumers. Therefore, it is not gameplay content. It should be clearly marked.

In addition to the new regulations, CAP’s sister agency, the UK’s independent advertising regulator, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), will be responsible for the supervision of the implementation of the new regulations, and has listed rectification deadlines for different types of in-app purchases and advertising behaviors.

ASA stated, “In view of the fact that some advertisers may need to change game content, ASA will be willing to deal with in-game content complaints informally for a period of 6 months; all other advertising complaints covered by the new regulations last for 3 months to allow the industry The changes can be implemented effectively. After the deadline, the ASA will return to the regular prosecution procedure.”

This Article is curated from Source and we only provide the English version of the Story.

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