CCPC and global consumer agencies find manipulative design practices in games

July 2, 2025

  • Network of consumer agencies from around the globe examined 439 mobile and online games
  • The sweep found multiple manipulative design techniques at play, including games for ages three and up
  • The CCPC will assess for potential breaches of EU and Irish consumer protection law

 

More than 20 national consumer agencies, including the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), have taken part in an international sweep of 439 mobile and online games to identify potential consumer harms.

The sweep, coordinated by the International Consumer Protection Enforcement Network (ICPEN), found several design techniques that may aim to manipulate players as young as three into making decisions or purchases they wouldn’t otherwise make.

These practices include:

Sneaking: Where information is intentionally withheld or hidden, for example the real-world price of virtual in-game currencies.
Nagging: Repeated, seemingly endless notifications or reminders, leading to a player agreeing to an action, such as make an in-app purchase out of frustration.
Obstruction: Where a game is intentionally designed to block a player in a certain way that frustrates them into making a decision or purchase to progress further.

The sweep also focused on other potentially harmful consumer practices in how games used loot boxes – in-game rewards which can be bought with real or virtual currency, or earned by watching in-game ads or spending time in the game.

Moreover, only 30% of games with loot boxes disclosed the presence of this monetisation mechanism at the download stage.

It found that loot boxes, in-game purchases and in-game advertisements were just as common in games rated ages three and up as they were in any other age group.

The sweep also uncovered urgency-style tactics aimed at pressuring players to purchase items that were only available for a limited time, when this may have been untrue.

The annual ICPEN sweep took place between 31 March and 11 April 2025. Along with the CCPC, 21 other global consumer authorities took part in the sweep. The CCPC and the participating sweep members are committed to making sure that consumers are protected from unfair and deceptive acts in gaming.

The full report on the sweep can be found on ICPEN’s website.

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