The FTC’s intervention is about to change this game in a big way.
Cognosphere has lost their legal battle against the US FTC and has agreed to a settlement over Genshin Impact.
The FTC shared a press release explaining the allegations. For one, Cognosphere failed to follow COPPA rules that required them to notify children’s parents they were collecting information. On top of that, FTC referred to the game’s banner events as loot boxes, and chastised them for selling loot boxes to children. And on top of that, they alleged that the monetization system was sufficiently confusing that it misled players about how much money they were spending on the game.
FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection director Samuel Levine put it this way:
“Genshin Impact deceived children, teens, and other players into spending hundreds of dollars on prizes they stood little chance of winning. Companies that deploy these dark-pattern tactics will be held accountable …