You're looking over your bank statements when you notice something odd. Someone’s been buying ‘Gold Packs’ for a mobile game? This is a game your child plays on the family tablet. These ‘Gold Packs’ cost £10 each time?! You don’t recall saying your child could buy these, nor aware that they could buy them in the game! What’s going on? Why do these games allow my child to make monetary purchases?

Long gone are the days when you could just buy a game once and play it forever. Nowadays, games are usually free to download but cost money if you want to progress further or get special items that make the game easier. These are known as microtransactions, and they’re designed to get as much money out of the player as they can.

And they’re now a regular feature of children’s games.

But fear not! We are here to explain what microtransactions are, and how you can prevent your child from accidentally draining your bank account!

What are microtransactions?

Microtransactions are small monetary purchases a player can buy to speed up their game progress or unlock new content. This way, the game company can still make money even after downloading it. Whilst even a questionable practice towards adult players, this business model is definitely not suited for kids, with several courts worldwide ruling that microtransactions can be tantamount to gambling!

You can use microtransactions to:

Buy items (crystals, gems, coins etc.) that you can spend to progress further in the game.

Buy content that is locked until you purchase it in-game.

Purchase loot boxes, an item that gives a chance to unlock a cool new item.

That last part is especially important. Lootboxes have often been compared to gambling because it is entirely random what item you might get until you purchase it. If a child wants a super rare item to impress their friends with, they might find themselves spending lots of money until they get what they want by pure luck!

Now imagine giving that decision to a young child who doesn’t have a great concept of money.

So why is it important that my child doesn’t buy microtransactions?

There have been reports of children spending massive amounts of money on microtransactions without their parent’s knowledge or permission.

Some games are even designed around enticing young people with cool rewards and will try to avoid telling them that they are making these purchases with ‘real world’ money.

They are counting on the fact that most parents aren’t familiar with parental controls. Parental controls enable parents to control how and what their child purchases.

Unhealthy interactions with microtransactions at an early age have the potential to damage a child’s relationship with money as they grow up.

It’s not all doom and gloom! We know the facts now, and we’ve got the tools to enjoy that your child grows into a healthy digital citizen that can avoid the dangers of microtransactions.

How can I prevent my child from purchasing microtransactions?

Here are some great strategies to help your child avoid the pitfalls of these microtransactions:

You can sit down with them and explain what microtransactions are. If anything pops up on their screen, they can ask you for permission before clicking. Make it clear that if they spend gems/coins etc, they could be spending ‘real-world’ money.

Before they download/play a game, you might want to do a bit of research and see if there are any microtransactions in it. There are plenty of websites that track and list what games include microtransactions, as many gamers hate the business model.

Parental controls are the most effective tool when monitoring what your child is doing on their devices. Most parental controls have a feature which locks children out of purchasing anything without their parent's permission.

Not all microtransactions have to be banned or break your account. If your child really likes a game and wants to make a purchase, you can incorporate it into their pocket-money, or as a reward/treat. Many services allow you to make one-off purchases of these microtransactions before locking access again. Some services, like PlayStation, even allow you to assign a weekly limit of purchases to your child’s account.

So hopefully we’ve caught you up to speed on the latest business model to come onto the video game scene. It looks like microtransactions are going to be around for a long time, so it’s better for you and your child to know all the facts. They can develop a healthy relationship with the games they love, and you can rest easy knowing your bank balance is safe!

What are microtransactions, and should my child be able to purchase them?

Communicate with your child about money and digital purchases to promote responsible behaviour.