Italy’s Antitrust and Competition Authority on Friday said it is investigating whether Apple, Google, Amazon and Gameloft mislead the public into spending money on so-called “freemium” apps that offer in-app purchases.
The Italian regulator is attempting to determine whether the companies’ respective app stores and freemium apps offer sufficient information about in-app purchases, reports The Wall Street Journal. Also under investigation are sales practices that seemingly trick users into paying for in-game content.
“Consumers could be led to think, contrary to reality, that a game is completely free and therefore they don’t know ahead of time the game’s true cost,” the regulatory body said. “It appears also that there is a lack of information regarding how to exclude or limit the possibility of making a purchase inside the app.”
It’s about time freemium apps got investigated and hopefully end up being regulated so as to not rip off customers. For example spending £50 on coins is not correct and often these freemium games ruin the fluidity too.
Good on Italy….. and I hope they have the b***s to see it through.
It’s about time the system was regulated by an independent body.
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