One of the trends to take over online and mobile gaming over
the last few years has been the use of In-App purchases.
Mobile games such as Candy Crush and Clash of Clans are two
big examples of games with in-app purchases. Fortnite is a perfect
example of a console game that leverages in-app purchases.
What makes in app purchases so interesting is -- generally --, they
are completely unnecessary. In-game purchases in a game like Fortnite
are fascinating because spending money on costumes or weapon
decorations doesn’t give you a better chance to win in the slightest.
Yet, Fortnite made millions selling those items. Similarly, Candy Crush
or Clash of Clans can be played without any purchases, but if you get
stuck or want to speed something up, users have to pay.
John Moor is well known for his theory that generally states that the
more technology leads to more ethical issues over time. One of his
other thoughts resonated with me more when it comes to in-app purchases,
“The ethical issues that we confront will not only come in increasing numbers
but will come packaged in terms of complex technology”.
In this case, the complex technology stays behind the scenes. It is the
combination of complexity on the backend, with pure simplicity on the front
end that gets users in trouble.
Once the credit card info is entered once, purchasing in-game becomes
way too easy. These apps capitalize on human impatience.
I wouldn’t, however, say that in-game purchases are necessarily unethical.
The issue to me is how many games don’t require constant re-approval of
credit card information. If the card information has been entered once, all you
have to do is click “buy”. Do you think kids think twice before they click buy?
My little brother certainly didn’t as when he spent over 100$ in one month
playing Clash of Clans on my parents phone when he was in 4th grade.
They were thrilled.
At the end of the day, in-app purchases are a brilliant business idea. From
an ethical perspective, I would try to avoid taking advantage of consumers
by making it so easy to purchase in-game. Making users have to enter their
card PIN number or the their last 4 digits would surely be a fair way to go
about this. It certainly would’ve made my parents happier!
This is interesting to me because I personally LOVE that I don't have to put in my credit card number every time I wan't to buy something, so maybe this issue is very dependent on its user base. That being said, these companies are probably very aware of their demographics and is taking advantage of impulse purchases of their users.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I don't think this is a problem with emerging technologies. Online payment system/video games has been around for a while now, and micro-transactions are business practices, not a technology.
Very interesting blog post indeed. I was a bit disappointed to read the title, only to discover no mention of your brother getting grounded in the blog itself.
ReplyDeleteJokes aside, I do think that the topic of in-app purchases, or microtransactions as I would call them (as this includes purchases for non-mobile games) is perhaps a very serious problem nowadays. I wrote my first blog post on microtransactions in games as well as the addictive and gambling aspects of these. Moreover, since these games are usually targeted towards children, who put little thought over their actions and consequences, I find it to be quite dangerous.
I would suggest talking about the ethicality of microtransactions. Although legal, these are very predatory tactics as game publishers try to minimize their impact by using "small" price tags, such as $20.00 for 2500 gems in your picture above. However, players who do spend money on games tend to buy items multiple times, and these bills stack up surprisingly fast.
I don't blame the publishers either, after all, they are companies that are trying to maximize profits and they're doing so legally.
I know that you're limited by the word count, but I would be very interested in your input on microtransactions for cosmetic items, such as those in Fortnite. Surprisingly enough, these are the microtransactions that are most profitable, as shown through Fortnite's $2.4 billion revenue from microtransactions in 2018. Take in mind that Fortnite is a free game and most of its revenue comes from the purchase of v-Bucks.
The title of your article was awesome and really drew me in. You made this really relatable. I have also been the victim to making purchases solely because my credit card information was saved on my phone, making it way too easy for me to purchase something.
ReplyDeleteSomething that I thought of while reading that would be a nice addition to this article would be to also include something that expands from in-app video game purchases, but follows your same argument, is purchases through the Amazon Alexa. I've seen news story after news story of kids buying things through their familys' Alexas, all they need to do is ask for it.
Something along the lines of "It started with in app-game purchases when we were young, but now its developed into these modern Amazon products, and gotten even easier". This is an interesting ethics conversation that I'd be interested to hear more about! Good job!
This article is personally hilarious for me because I have experienced this very problem with a game called tap-tap fish. I spent nearly 300 dollars when I was nine due to the simplicity of completing in app purchases, even as a minor. That is why this article really stuck out to me. You are absolutely correct that from a legal standpoint, this cannot be argued as a problem, but in the general scheme of ethicality, this topic raises a lot of questions. It really seems sometimes that the large app development companies (and even apple) take advantage of kids running around playing games on their Mother's phone who are prone to making silly decisions and clicking the visually appealing chest of gems which will help them upgrade to town hall level 10 (I also played a lot of Clash of Clans but avoided making in app purchases). Honestly though, I felt that the overall point of how this pertains to information technology was not as reinforced as it could have been. As far as integrating the readings into your post, I definitely wish there was more here. It feels a little forced and a little too simplistic. Moor's law is a good example to use here as it covers the increase in problems with the increase of technology but I think there's more to it than just that on this topic. The readings from this last week, particularly Turilli and Floridi's article on information transparency. I would consider adding more from the readings as they could certainly help establish your point more.
ReplyDeleteHi Kunal, I think this was a very well written blog post that is easy to read and well organized. This topic is also very interesting to me because I do like to use In-App. After all, I will not have to put my payment information whenever I want to purchase something. Well done!
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