We’ve seen people spend outrageous amounts of money on online and social games, but it appears as though Tecmo Koei are attempting to get that under control somewhat, as they’re adopting a new policy that limits the amount minors can spend per month on social titles.
The reason for this is so that parents can feel at ease to allow their children to play their games, the company behind games like Dead or Alive and Dynasty Warriors says.
Lately, the subject of charging minors for micro-transactions in social and online gaming has been a controversial topic for both game companies and parents in Japan. After giving it much thought from the consumer protection perspective, Tecmo Koei have decided to introduce a system that limits certain ages on how much they can spend.
As per the new policy, minors of age 15 and younger, will be limited to 5,000 yen ($50) a month, while those of ages 16 to 19 will have their limit set to 20,000 ($200) a month. Players of 20 years and older are considered adults in Japan, so they won’t have to worry about any monthly limits and are free to spend as much as they like.
According to Tecmo Koei Holdings, their goal is to “Offer services that minors can use without having to cause any worries.” The new policy is set to be implemented sometime by the end of this year.
