Mobile and online games using manipulative design techniques to deceive gamers, ICPEN warns

Popular mobile and online games frequently employ practices that could potentially harm gamers, including manipulative design techniques, incomplete information on loot boxes, and inappropriate in-game advertisements.

The gaming industry is rapidly growing in popularity, with an estimated 3.3 billion people playing mobile and online games in 2024. Gaming can be great fun, unless deceptive practices harm gamers.

The International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN), an organization consisting of consumer protection law enforcement authorities from across the globe, examined 439 mobile and online games for unfair practices related to loot boxes, virtual currencies, pay-to-win models, and influencer marketing. The inquiry took place between March 31st and April 11th, 2025.

The advocacy group found several practices that can be considered unfair and deceptive to consumers.

For starters, a quarter of games (24 percent) used so-called urgency style design techniques aimed at pressuring players to make a purchase. Over a third of games (38 percent) used the same tactics to encourage gamers to buy items that are only available for a limited time. In some cases, the timers appeared to be bogus.

Over half of the examined games (60 percent) sent notifications to players, asking them to log back into the game to claim some form of reward. And 32 percent of games pressured players to purchase an item such as an extra life, more energy, or a booster after losing.

Transparency about in-game purchases is important so that gamers fully understand what they’re buying. However, game developers rarely disclose their monetization mechanisms.

Out of all examined mobile and online games, 84% disclosed on their platform pages that the game included in-app purchases. Information on loot boxes, on the contrary, was displayed in only 14 percent of the games’ platform pages.

Three-quarters of the games (78%) had some form of virtual currency built in. Of these games, 36% appeared to sell currency bundles that did not align with those of in-game items that were the most commonly sold.

“This is likely to result in players being left with leftover virtual currency that is unusable within the game, unless they make more in-game purchases,” ICPEN says in its report.

The majority of the games displayed an age rating. However, this rating seemed unaffected by the presence of loot boxes, in-game purchases, and in-game advertisements. In addition, parental controls and other practices aimed at protecting minors were only found in a small subsection of the games.

To make sure gamers are protected from unfair and deceptive practices in gaming, ICPEN recommends more action from game developers, regulatory bodies, and policymakers.