The US Government Wants To Hear Your In-Game Currency Nightmare Stories

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is looking for feedback from players as it proposes a new rule revolving around in-game currencies and transactions that would allow the current Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA), and the protections it grants to consumers, to apply to certain video game companies.

Historically, the EFTA has been used to protect consumers from unauthorized transactions and requires financial institutions to fix errors and investigate and correct illicit transactions. The CFPB wants some of those same rules to apply to game companies whose products resemble "consumer asset accounts" that allow for converting in-game currency or goods into real money.

Under that interpretation, new regulations would apply to games like Roblox (which allows users to convert Robux into US dollars) and not games like Fortnite, where in-game currency and goods can be purchased but can't be converted into real cash or exchanged between players. It would also likely apply to platforms like Steam, where users can sell in-game goods like weapon skins and other cosmetics for cash.

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