Office of Fair Trading investigates the freemium gaming market

The OFT's investigation into the freemium market comes at an interesting time. Free-to-play (F2P) games are gradually becoming the norm, enabling players to download a title without charge, while the option to make in-app purchases for upgrades and locked content provides developers with revenues.
At the start of the year, former Mobile Entertainmentmanaging editor Lisa Carter experienced the perils of F2P gaming, however, when her three-year-old son made IAPs via an iPad game, which amounted to almost £100. This was enabled with just a few screen taps and no authorisation required from mum.
The experience isn't an isolated incident, and the OFT is on a mission to find out whether children are being pressured or encouraged to pay for content in the apps and games, which are billed as 'free'
The trade body has written to F2P studios to track down information on their in-game marketing, while also contacting parents and consumer groups to find out if the apps are misleading or commercially aggressive.
Cavendish Elithorn, senior director for goods and consumer, said: "We are concerned that children and their parents could be subject to unfair pressure to purchase when they are playing games they thought were free, but which can actually run up substantial costs.
"The OFT is not seeking to ban in-game purchases, but the games industry must ensure it is complying with the relevant regulations so that children are protected. We are speaking to the industry and will take enforcement action if necessary."
The OFT expects to publish its next steps by October 2013. If you want to make a report, visit the company's direct exhortations page.
In other news, Kids Best iPad Apps recently found that just 24 per cent of children's iPad apps provide a privacy policy, with developers claiming they're too busy to include one.

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