We are almost used to microtransactions in games these days, but that doesn’t mean they don’t come with dangers. As one family appear to have found with FIFA 16.
In a cautionary news item on the Canadian CBS news site it appears that a teenagers parent’s got a shock when they checked their credit card bill to find that he’d managed to make $7,625.88 worth of purchases all on FIFA. Though the news item does not state which version of the game it is, we can assume it is FIFA 16, though the system to purchase microtransactions remains the same over the years.
“He thought it was a one-time fee for the game,” Perkins said.
“He’s just as sick as I am, [because] he never believed he was being charged for every transaction, or every time he went onto the game.”
As is usual from Microsoft, when they were contacted they released a statement about parents controlling their children’s use of the Xbox Live system, and that they have control:
“Purchases made using a parent’s payment account are legitimate transactions under the Microsoft Services Agreement, and we encourage parents to use the many platform and service features we make available to prevent unapproved charges,”
The news item also features comments from John Lawford, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Ottowa, who said:
“I would think that [cases are] easily in the tens of thousands in Canada, if you count all the platforms,” Lawford said. “It’s hard to know, because there’s no requirement to report this and there’s no central repository of consumer complaints. But the various provincial consumer ministries are starting to look at online more and more.”
As this is something we tend to see happening not only on console games, but also tablets too it is surprising that we see it happening again and again. Maybe it’s a time for a change in policy?
Are you shocked by the amount of money spent? Let us know your thoughts below.
