Level Up Your Voice: CFPB Seeks Your Epic Gaming Loot Stories!

Every year, individuals in the United States allocate billions of dollars for video games and virtual environments. A significant share of these expenditures relates to purchasing gaming currency, which is kept in a player’s account and utilized for in-game exchanges, such as acquiring goods and services and person-to-person (“P2P”) transfers. Our report on the financial dangers of video games and virtual realms outlines how these gaming currencies and accounts are rapidly changing, increasingly resembling banking and payment frameworks.

As this transformation has unfolded, gamers—or occasionally their parents and guardians—have reported complications such as difficulties converting dollars into in-game currency, unauthorized transactions, account hacks and takeovers, theft, frauds, and asset loss. They have also conveyed receiving minimal to no assistance from gaming companies or the financial institutions or digital wallets involved. Refund requests are frequently denied, individuals discover their gaming accounts suspended by the game developer after seeking a refund from their financial provider, or they become trapped in frustrating interactions with AI-driven customer service agents while merely trying to obtain straightforward information.

Notwithstanding these complications, video game and virtual world operators typically adopt a “buyer beware” stance, providing users with few, if any, safeguards when issues arise.

Today, the CFPB has proposed an interpretive regulation to elucidate what rights are accessible to consumers, including gamers, under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act. The suggested interpretive regulation clarifies that gaming companies falling under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act could breach federal consumer financial laws if they fail to resolve issues encountered by gamers regarding their accounts. The CFPB invites the public, including gamers, to contribute comments and accounts related to our proposal.

Share your experiences with video game currencies

Gamers can share their encounters with gaming assets held in their accounts and utilized for various transactions within these environments, such as purchasing goods and services, converting dollars to in-game currency and vice versa, and facilitating P2P transfers. Gamers can also recount instances of complications and the impacts on them when seeking assistance.

We are eager to hear from gamers regarding our proposed interpretive regulation concerning:

• The types of transactions you routinely perform using your gaming account
• Your experiences with in-game currency, including any issues you’ve faced and features you appreciate or dislike
• Your narratives of when matters have gone awry, and the assistance you may or may not have received, including help you felt you should have received
• What protections you require to enhance the security of in-game transactions, in-game currency, and the value stored within your account

We are open to all submissions until the comment period concludes on March 31, 2025. Share your experiences with video game currencies and gaming accounts by emailing us. Your contributions will aid us in illuminating features in the gaming industry that increasingly mirror traditional banking and payment systems.