The gates were simply too onerous in this case. We've grown inoculated to them to a certain extent, and have long been making our own judgement calls of when a game's microtransactions are too frustrating.Ĭlearly, then, the ASA was drawing a distinct line between free-to-play as a legitimate business model, and false claims of "free" in the case of Dungeon Keeper. To EA's credit, it probably was correct to state that gamers are used to seeing IAPs in games. Developers targeting market-savvy gamers tend to keep paid hooks out of the limelight, but offer a low-cost option to throw a dollar or two their way with some minor gameplay benefit. Most gamers don't mind chipping in a few bucks with an in-app purchase for a game they're really enjoying. Even games that are largely seen as noble successes for unobtrusive purchases, like Hearthstone, feature IAPs to support them. We really can't expect a game to be truly free in the purest sense, because game development costs money. To be fair to developers, IAPs are necessary. Every single one has a small label under it: "In-App Purchases." With the exception of Minecraft Pocket as a premium app, the entire top 50 is F2P. All twenty of the current top-grossing games in the iOS app store are free-to-play. It does raise a larger issue, though: should companies be clearer about their monetization methods, and more careful when touting a game as "free" on the mobile market?ĮA is far from the sole offender. If it does have any impact on us in America, it will be a product of companies like EA being careful with their phrasing so they don't have to make two separate advertisements for English-speaking regions. It's a limited ruling, both by region and specific to only one game. As a result, EA cannot use advertising describing it as free in the United Kingdom. Further, it said it understood monetization schemes, but expects the "free" experience to be extensive enough to justify the label. In its ruling, it found that only so many actions could be done simultaneously, leading to a nearly inevitable point when players had to pay to play. EA even pointed out, accurately, that most players have grown accustomed to elements like countdown timers and premium currency. EA argued that it hadn't misled players, since every form of currency could be earned and gameplay was not "severely limited" by the roadblocks. Let's not pretend this is just EA's burden to bear.Īs reported by Eurogamer, the ASA concluded that the game was severely limited without the use of in-app purchases. Though ASA was correct to identify the problems with Dungeon Keeper's dubious F2P model, it was only scratching the surface of a much larger problem in the mobile space. The UK's Advertising Standards Authority recently banned Electronic Arts from advertising its iOS game Dungeon Keeper as "free." Since so much of the game was roped behind timers that could only be passed with premium currency, the reasoning went, it was not truly free enough to warrant a label.
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