Genshin Impact creator HoYoverse has agreed to pay $20 million to settle a complaint, filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission, that accuses it of violating U.S. privacy laws. children and mislead users about the real cost of obtaining rare prizes in loot boxes. .
According to the FTC announcement, the complaint accused Singapore-based Cognosphere, which does business as HoYoverse, of actively marketing Genshin Impact to children and collecting their personal information in violation of the Children’s Privacy Protection Rule in line (COPPA). The FTC claimed that HoYoverse knew that children under the age of 13 were using its service, but continued to collect their personal information (and share it with third parties) without obtaining parental consent or complying with other COPPA requirements.
Additionally, the filing claimed that HoYoverse misled players regarding the odds (and actual cost) of winning particularly sought-after “five-star” loot box prizes. The complaint argued that Genshin Impact’s loot box system, which is said to require players to “exchange real dollars for virtual currency packets which must then be exchanged again multiple times to open loot boxes,” is “complicated” , “challenging” and “confusing”, especially for children and adolescents.
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Additionally, the filing claimed that Genshin Impact’s purchasing process “misleads consumers about the amount of money.” [they] spend on loot boxes continuously and the amount of money [they] “You would probably need to spend to get certain prizes.” It was also alleged that HoYoverse’s event banners and influencer campaigns gave players the impression that they would have a better chance of getting five-star prizes than they actually did.
In response, HoYoverse agreed to pay $20 million to settle the lawsuit (meaning it neither admits nor denies the allegations) and will make changes to prevent children under 16 from purchasing loot boxes without express parental consent. The proposed settlement, which must be approved by a federal judge, also prohibits HoYoverse from selling loot boxes using virtual currency without providing the option to purchase them with real money, and requires it to disclose loot box probabilities and types of loot boxes. exchange for virtual currencies of various levels. badge.
Additionally, HoYoverse must delete any personal information previously collected from children under 13 years of age without parental consent and comply with COPPA in the future.