Examining The Ethical Issues in Video Game Monetization Strategies

Video games have evolved far beyond simple entertainment, they drive a multibillion dollar industry and have developed countless complex monetization strategies. As developers and publishers seek new ways to generate revenue, the line between engaging gameplay and exploitative design has become increasingly blurred. With a growing need to monetize games, many forms of monetization have arisen that can be very harmful to the users or be exploitative in some ways. Behind the fun of the game, a growing number of players are finding themselves trapped in spending loops they never intended to enter. They are spending too much on loot boxes, or feeling depressed about not having the new items in game. We have also seen a rise in child monetization.

More specifically, the ethical issues with many of the forms of monetizations are they utilize addictive mechanics to get people hooked, benefit off social pressure, use dark patterns in UI and features, and affect game integrity with pay-to-win mechanics.

The main stakeholders who are affected by this ethical issue are players, developers, publishers, parents, children, and game development platforms. To read more about how these groups are impacted and their connection to monetization, go to the stakeholder tab.

Diving deeper into this topic one of the clearest examples of how these exploitative mechanisms play out in practice is through dark patterns, intentional design choices that steer players toward spending money against their own best interests. Researchers define these as features purposefully built to cause negative experiences that ultimately benefit the developer financially. A standout example is loot boxes which are randomized reward systems which have been associated with problem gambling behaviors due to how designers manipulate the probability of obtaining desirable items to drive repeated purchases. Another example is Fortnite's developer Epic Games was fined over one million euros by Dutch regulators in 2024 after being found to have used fake countdown timers suggesting items had limited availability when they did not, alongside prompts like "Buy now" deliberately designed to exploit children's impulse buying tendencies.

Children are a particularly vulnerable group when it comes to these tactics, and platforms like Roblox illustrate just how hard these systems can affect young players. A University of Sydney study interviewing 22 children aged 7-14 found that children and parents described Roblox's spending mechanics as "scams," "cash grabs," and even "child gambling". This confusion is by design. Virtual currencies like Robux, and V-Bucks disguise spending as gameplay by requiring players to convert real money before making any purchase, effectively hiding the true cost of items. As of August 2024, 42% of Roblox's 380 million global users were under the age of 13.

To help understand the different forms of monetization and how games could be more ethical with monetization, go to the description tab to read more about the options and ethical ramifications.

Here are some questions to think about as you explore and deepen your understanding of the case study.

• Who are the main vulnerable stakeholders for this ethical issue, and why is it important to protect them?

• Should game distribution platforms like Steam or the App Store be responsible for regulating the monetization practices of games sold on their platforms? Why or why not?

• Who bears the greater responsibility for protecting children from predatory game monetization, parents, game developers, publishers, or government regulators?

• Why might a studio choose to use one method of monetization over another? Why does your favorite game use the method it does?

• What makes a price on a game unreasonable or excessive? How does one price fit a game, and the same price make a different game too expensive?