Genshin Impact Loot Boxes Will Likely Get An Overhaul After Developer Is Fined $20M By The US Federal Trade Commission

screenrant.com:

The developers of have agreed to a 20 million dollar settlement with the United States Federal Trade Commission regarding alleged deceptive loot box practices against those under the age of 16. Cognosphere, also known as HoYoverse, was named in the lawsuit as having marketed a «gambling model» to children, as well as collecting their data.

While continues to be a massive success for HoYoverse with its open-world RPG gameplay, the FTC's settlement, which suggests a purposeful mishandling of children's data and personal information, is deeply disappointing for fans.

According to Forbes, made 1 billion dollars in its first six months on mobile platforms, and this amount re-occurred every six months for a sustained period. Despite the lawsuit focusing on the exploitation of players, Polygon has reported that the $20 million will be sent to the United States Treasury, and won't be reimbursed to players.

The FTC's complaint against Cognosphere focuses on the alleged misleading of players surrounding their odds of winning rare items in , with the true costs of these transactions obscured. The lawsuit states that the developers "" to obtain one of the 5-star prizes, like a character or weapon. The alleged misrepresentation of winning a premium prize through the Wish system in is explained in further detail in the lawsuit, which suggests that players are likely to spend a significant amount of money on them:

Defendants [Cognosphere] widely advertise, and prominently feature within Genshin Impact, select “5-star” prizes, which consumers can obtain only by opening loot boxes. The odds of any given loot box containing the advertised prize are very low, and consumers commonly must purchase dozens of loot boxes, at the cost of hundreds of dollars, to obtain a single 5-star prize. Yet Defendants have misrepresented players’ odds of obtaining rare loot box prizes, and Defendants have misled players about the substantial expenditure likely required to obtain these prizes. — UNITED