Ethical and legal dimensions of microtransactions in videogames
Khonych, Alena (2019)
2019
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2019111120952
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2019111120952
Tiivistelmä
Nowadays, microtransactions have become a powerful money generating tool in the gaming industry. At the same time, the topic of microtransactions began to concern consumers, mass media and even authorities on a governmental level. Different aspects of microtransactions are being discussed, among these are legal and ethical dimensions of microtransactions.
The paper analyses the phenomenon of microtransactions, traces its roots and focuses on the possible effects on the consumers of gaming industry. There are many aspects that should be taken into consideration while discussing this topic. It also became obvious, that some sort of a solution to the growing problem needs to be found.
The results indicate that microtransactions are an important and powerful tool revenue generating for gaming companies. It also became obvious that certain types of microtransactions started to resemble an unsupervised form of gambling. The possible solution to the situation would be first recognizing these microtransactions as gambling and then implementing tools to officially regulate them. Although some countries managed to achieve some results, many others are still struggling trying to protect the consumers.
The paper analyses the phenomenon of microtransactions, traces its roots and focuses on the possible effects on the consumers of gaming industry. There are many aspects that should be taken into consideration while discussing this topic. It also became obvious, that some sort of a solution to the growing problem needs to be found.
The results indicate that microtransactions are an important and powerful tool revenue generating for gaming companies. It also became obvious that certain types of microtransactions started to resemble an unsupervised form of gambling. The possible solution to the situation would be first recognizing these microtransactions as gambling and then implementing tools to officially regulate them. Although some countries managed to achieve some results, many others are still struggling trying to protect the consumers.