Author: Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Cognosphere, the publisher of the anime-style fantasy video game “Genshin Impact,” has agreed to pay $20 million to settle allegations by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that the company violated children’s privacy laws.
It will also block children under 16 from making in-game purchases without parental consent as part of the settlement, the FTC said.
The FTC accused Singapore-based Cognosphere of unfairly marketing loot boxes to children that concealed the true costs and misled all players about the prospects of winning prizes.
The game was made by the Chinese developer MiHoYo.
“While we believe many of the FTC’s allegations are false, we agreed to this settlement because we value the trust of our community and share a commitment to transparency for our players,” Cognosphere said in a statement.
The company said it will roll out new age and parental consent protections for children and young teens in the coming months, and increase disclosure of information in virtual currency games and rewards for players in the US.
