Italy’s Probe into Microtransactions: What Indie Mobile Devs Need to Know

Italy’s AGCM probe is a red flag — what indie mobile devs must change now

Hook: If you build free-to-play mobile games, the Italian competition watchdog’s 2026 investigations into Activision Blizzard’s Diablo Immortal and Call of Duty Mobile are a wake-up call: regulators are scrutinizing microtransactions, UI nudges, and how purchases affect children. This isn’t just about big publishers — small studios can be targeted next. The good news: concrete, low-cost changes you can make today will reduce legal risk, protect players (especially minors), and preserve revenue by building trust.

What the AGCM found and why it matters for indies

In January 2026 Italy’s Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) opened probes into Activision Blizzard, citing misleading and aggressive sales practices in Diablo Immortal and Call of Duty Mobile. The AGCM highlighted three problem areas:

• Design elements that push long play sessions and impulsive purchases, with an emphasis on inducing minors to spend.
• Obscured value of virtual currency and bundled in-game currency sales that hide real costs.
• Sales mechanics (timed events, loss aversion, “don’t miss out” FOMO) that can lead consumers to spend more than intended.

Why this matters: regulators across Europe and beyond are now treating aggressive in-app monetization as a consumer protection issue, not just a commercial strategy. If your game uses virtual currency, loot boxes, or time-limited offers, you are on the radar — even as an indie.

Quick practical summary — 3 immediate actions

1. Show real prices clearly — tell players how much virtual currency costs in local currency and what a single unit buys.
2. Protect minors — add age gates, parental controls, and default spending caps.
3. Remove dark patterns — eliminate misleading scarcity, auto-rolling purchases, and one-click upsells for children and new players.

Breaking down the AGCM concerns — technical and UX specifics

1. Virtual currency transparency

The AGCM criticized how games hide the real-world cost of in-game currency and package currency in bundles that make per-unit costs opaque. For indies, this is an easy compliance win:

• Display a clear conversion table: show how many units equal €1, $1, etc., and always show the equivalent fiat price next to store items.
• When offering bundles, show per-unit price and total price in local currency.
• Include a simple line in purchase flows: “This item costs €X (equivalent to Y game coins).”

Example UI element: a small label under each starter bundle: “€4.99 — 500 Gems (€0.00998 per Gem).”

2. Design patterns that nudge spending

The AGCM highlighted UI elements and event mechanics that create compulsive loops. Indie teams should audit their UX for classic dark patterns:

• Automatic retries, hidden timers, and pressure to purchase to avoid “losing” progress.
• Fake scarcity (repeating “only X left” for unlimited items) and misleading countdowns.
• Pre-checked purchase options and removal of friction for high-value purchases.

Practical fixes: remove pre-checked add-ons, label limited-time items with clear end timestamps (with timezone), and add a confirmation step that states the fiat amount before charging.

3. Child safety and age-based protections

Children are the most vulnerable. The AGCM explicitly called out inducements aimed at minors. Indie studios should adopt a default-by-design approach to child protection:

• Age Gate: implement an age check on first launch and follow up with stronger verification for purchase flows (e.g., parental consent or payment method verification).
• Parental Controls: provide in-game settings that let parents set spending limits, lock purchases, or require a PIN for purchases.
• Spend Caps & Cooling-Off: allow parents to set daily/weekly/monthly spend caps and offer automatic cooldowns after high spend events.

Concrete implementation checklist for indie studios (technical + policy)

Below is a prioritized, developer-focused checklist you can act on this quarter. Many items are low-effort and high-impact for compliance and player trust.

1. Price transparency
   • Show fiat cost next to every purchasable item and currency bundle.
   • Show per-unit cost and an example use-case (e.g., “100 coins = one loot box”).
2. Explicit consent & confirmation
   • Require explicit confirmation for any purchase over a threshold (e.g., €20 or device-local equivalent).
   • Show a final confirmation screen with the total fiat amount and receipt before charging.
3. Age and parental controls
   • Age gate on account creation; additional verification for purchases if player age indicates a minor.
   • Parental PIN, email confirmation, or OAuth-based parental consent flows for purchases.
4. Spending limits & spend-history
   • Enable default spend limits for accounts under 18, adjustable by parents.
   • Make purchase history easy to find in the game settings and send clear receipts to email.
5. Eliminate manipulative UX
   • Remove fake scarcity and misleading countdowns.
   • No auto-retry that encourages ad-hoc purchases to continue play; avoid pay-to-continue loops that disproportionately affect minors.
6. Odds & loot box transparency
   • If you use randomized rewards, publish the drop rates and show cumulative odds where relevant.
7. Refunds & customer service
   • Publish a clear refund policy aligned with platform rules and EU consumer rights where applicable.
   • Provide an in-game help contact and timely responses to purchase disputes.
8. Data minimization and privacy
   • Collect only what’s needed for purchases and age verification; store minimal sensitive data.
   • Document data use for auditors and parents; align with GDPR where applicable.

Developer how-to: 6 practical code & product moves

Here are small, concrete actions your team can ship in weeks, not months.

1. Fiat conversion display

   Compute and display conversion next to virtual currency in the store. Example formula: show "Price in fiat = (bundle_price / bundle_units) * units_needed". Implement server-side to avoid client rounding tricks.

2. Two-step purchase flow

   Add an intermediate confirmation modal listing item, fiat price, and a one-click cancel option. For high-value items require re-authentication (password/PIN).

3. Server-side spend limits

   Implement spend tracking per account and enforce caps server-side. Don’t rely on client checks — regulators will expect enforceable limits.

4. Age verification / parental consent

   Integrate a consent flow: email verification to parent or third-party age verification API. For most indies, a parental email confirmation plus PIN is workable.

5. Audit logs & analytics

   Log purchase confirmations, timestamps, IPs, and parental consents for 6–12 months. These logs are essential for defending against complaints.

6. Automated receipts

   Send immediate purchase receipts with itemized fiat amounts; include links to refund help. This reduces disputes and shows good faith in audits.

Legal and regulatory context — what to watch in 2026

Regulation of microtransactions accelerated in late 2025 and into 2026. The AGCM’s actions are part of a broader trend: European and national regulators are shifting from investigating only loot boxes to scrutinizing overall in-app purchase design and child-directed ads. Expect:

• More national consumer authorities in the EU to open parallel probes.
• Guidance or enforcement actions focused on dark patterns and child protection.
• Platform policy updates (Apple, Google, and alternative app stores may change store review rules or require clearer disclosure for currency sales).

For indies distributing globally, proactively implementing transparency and child-safety features is cheaper than retrofitting after a complaint or enforcement notice.

Business benefits: why compliance is also good product strategy

Beyond risk mitigation, these changes improve retention, reduce chargebacks, and increase lifetime value through trust. Visible receipts, clearer pricing, and family-friendly defaults can become competitive advantages when players and parents compare stores.

• Trust = longer retention: clear pricing reduces buyer’s remorse.
• Lower support costs: transparent receipts and purchase histories cut disputes.
• Better discoverability: some storefronts now feature family-safe or ethically monetized games.

Case study: small studio pivot that worked (realistic example)

Studio X (30-person indie) launched a F2P RPG in 2024 with currency bundles and timed chests. After a player complaint in late 2025, they implemented a transparency patch: conversion labels, a two-step confirmation flow, and parental spending caps. In early 2026 they saw:

• 30% drop in refund requests
• Improved Net Promoter Score among paying users
• Positive coverage from family-focused review sites

They retained their monetization model but rebuilt it around clarity and consent — the result was less churn and better player goodwill.

Monitoring, reporting, and being audit-ready

Regulators will expect documentation. Put these practices in place now:

• Maintain a public monetization policy page describing currency, bundles, odds, and refund policy.
• Keep internal audit logs for purchases, parental consents, and policy changes.
• Run periodic UX audits for dark patterns and keep a changelog of fixes.
• Assign a compliance owner (production or community lead) to respond to regulator inquiries quickly.

Future-proofing: trends to prepare for

Over the next 12–24 months expect:

• Platform-level enforcement: Apple/Google may add stricter store guidelines for currency transparency and age-specific purchase flows.
• More granular age verification: secure parent consent flows will become common practice rather than optional.
• Standardized disclosures: EU-wide labels for loot boxes and randomized rewards could appear, similar to food labeling.

Indies that adopt transparent, family-friendly monetization early will be better positioned for platform promotions and regulatory stability.

Checklist you can implement in the next 7 days

• Add fiat price text to every store item (small UI patch).
• Add a confirmation modal for purchases over €10.
• Create a basic parental PIN toggle under settings.
• Publish a short monetization policy and link it in the store page.

"These practices may influence players as consumers — including minors — leading them to spend significant amounts..."

Final takeaways — act now, protect players and your studio

The AGCM investigations into Diablo Immortal and Call of Duty Mobile are a clear signal: regulators are broadening their focus beyond loot boxes to any in-app mechanics that can mislead or pressure consumers, especially children. As an indie developer, you can choose to reactively respond to complaints — or proactively harden your game and reputation with straightforward changes that protect players and reduce legal risk.

Key actions to prioritize

• Transparency: show fiat prices and conversion rates everywhere.
• Protection: implement age gates, parental controls, and spend caps.
• Design: remove dark patterns and add friction for high-value purchases.
• Documentation: publish policies, keep logs, and be audit-ready.

Call to action

Ready to make your game compliant and player-friendly? Download our free "Indie Microtransaction Compliance Checklist" at indiegames.shop/compliance (free template + UI labels), or join our weekly developer clinic to walk through implementation steps with other studios. Protect your players, reduce risk, and build a monetization strategy that scales ethically into 2026.

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