Empty Your PocketsWhoopsie, after allegations from the FTC that Genshin Impact has been misleading players about lootbox odds, its developer has been left with a $20 million fine and some rule changesProbably a long time coming, really. News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 19, 2025 Genshin Impact maker HoYoverse is in a spot of trouble, as it has to pay a $20 million fine to the Federal Trade Commission over accusations of deceiving players.HoYoverse has made a bit of a blunder. In a recent complaint filed by the US Department of Justice for the FTC, the Genshin Impact developer was accused of having "unfairly marketed loot boxes to children that obscured real costs and misled all players about the odds of obtaining prizes." That's obviously not an ideal complaint for HoYoverse, but as it turns out, as reported in a press release from the FTC, the developer has actually agreed to pay a $20 million fine to settle the charges. Not only that, though, but the company is now blocked from allowing children under 16 from making in-game purchases without parental consent, something I'm surprised wasn't around in the first place.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. In a statement, the director of the FTC's bureau of consumer protection said that "Genshin Impact deceived children, teens, and other players into spending hundreds of dollars on prizes they stood little chance of winning. Companies that deploy these dark-pattern tactics will be held accountable if they deceive players, particularly kids and teens, about the true costs of in-game transactions."The press release itself noted that the complaint "alleges that Genshin Impacts purchasing process obscures the reality that consumers commonly must spend large amounts of real money to obtain 'five-star prizes,' and that some children have spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars to win them Players must exchange real dollars for bundles of virtual currency that then have to be re-exchanged multiple times to open loot boxes, with exchange rates in unusual denominations. This complicated system, according to the complaint, misleads consumers about the amount of money that players spend on loot boxes on an ongoing basis, and the amount of money that players would likely need to spend to obtain certain prizes."On top of that, the developer will now be "prohibited from selling loot boxes using virtual currency without providing an option for consumers to purchase them directly with real money." Sorry HoYoverse! Maybe next time don't make a game with currency systems that are purposefully designed to exploit players.