The Office of Fair Trading has begun a probe into smartphone apps that encourage users, especially children, into spending money on in-app upgrades or items.
The watchdog will focus on games that are free to download but then require players to pay in order to progress through the game or encourage the purchase of virtual items.
The OFT is not seeking to ban in-game purchases, but the games industry must ensure it is complying with the relevant regulations
The OFT has yet to give details on which companies it is investigating, but it is looking into how apps are marketed to children, with "strong encouragement" to make a purchase or use pester power to force parents into making a purchase on their behalf. For some parents with company phones linked to corporate credit cards, this could mean businesses being left open to hefty bills when children make in-app purchases.
"We are concerned that children and their parents could be subject to unfair pressure to purchase when they are playing games they thought were free, but which can actually run up substantial costs," said Cavendish Elithorn, the OFT's senior director for goods and consumer.
"The OFT is not seeking to ban in-game purchases, but the games industry must ensure it is complying with the relevant regulations so that children are protected. We are speaking to the industry and will take enforcement action if necessary."
The OFT said it would be talking to app developers as well as Google and Apple over their respective app stores. It will consider whether such apps make it clear at the time of downloading the full cost of buying the app and the transparency of the further costs involved after downloading.
The OFT said it doesn't want in-app purchases banned but will ensure that industry complies with consumer regulations and will "take enforcement action if necessary."
