Home Gaming EA can no longer claim Dungeon Keeper is “free to play”

EA can no longer claim Dungeon Keeper is “free to play”

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Dungeon-keeper

Free to play gaming, when done poorly, is a scourge upon this hobby we hold dear. One of the more egregious examples of this is EA’s mobile Dungeon Keeper, which keeps you from doing the simplest of things unless you have infinite time, or an infinite credit card. Because of its nasty implementation, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority has deemed it illegal for EA to even use “Free to play” as a descriptor for the game.

Here’s what the ASA (via VG247) had to say in its ruling against an ad that claimed Dungeon Keeper was free to play.

“We regarded it as extremely likely that players would reach a position where they would be unable to take any further meaningful or progressive action in the game until a timer had finished or been skipped, and that these periods would become longer and more significant, and the cost of skipping increasingly higher, as the player progressed.

“From the information available in the ad, players would expect the gameplay progression and their ability to advance to be unhindered by unexpected and excessively onerous delays, and we therefore considered that the length and frequency of these countdown events was beyond that which would be reasonably expected by players.

“We consequently considered it likely that many players would regard the gameplay experience as unexpectedly curtailed and as a result would need to spend Gems in order to achieve the form of gameplay anticipated.

“While we understood that the average consumer would appreciate that free-to-play games were likely to contain monetisation functions, we considered that they would also expect the play experience of a game described as ‘free’ to not be excessively restricted.”

hahaha fuck right off.

They found the adverts for the game to be misleading, noting that the adverts made no references of there being in-app purchases.

“We noted that the ad did not include any reference to in-app purchases or the role they would play.

“Although we acknowledged that a disclaimer about the inclusion of in-app purchases was placed on the product page on the stores in which the app appeared, we noted that this was not within the body of, or linked to the original ad, and that it did not make the nature of these purchases clear.”

EA has naturally contested the claims, arguing that gameplay was not gimped for those unwilling to pony up for gems to speed up the game’s infernal timers.

If EA advertises the game again, they need to make sure to use wording that informs consumers that they’ll essentially be paying out of their buttholes to have a good time.

“The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Electronic Arts Ltd to ensure that future ads made clear the limitations of free gameplay and role of in-app purchasing with regard to speeding up gameplay.”

Last Updated: July 2, 2014

20 Comments

  1. Brady miaau

    July 2, 2014 at 17:08

    So, they can still call it “Free to Play” but just not in adverts? and only in the UK?

    Reply

    • ConkerBFD

      July 2, 2014 at 19:15

      Hope this will become common in other countries. My wife plays all these saga type games like candy crush and farm heroes. They all can be described in the same terms: “a position where they would be unable to take any further meaningful or progressive action in the game until a timer had finished or been skipped, and that these periods would become longer and more significant, and the cost of skipping increasingly higher, as the player progressed”.

      At least, EA have some good games (Mass Effect, Dragon Age), what we can say about King or Mobage?

      Reply

  2. Praise Lord GabeN

    July 2, 2014 at 17:08

    I guess it’s our fault for not “evolving” with the industry, right EA 😉

    Reply

  3. Hammersteyn

    July 2, 2014 at 17:11

    Suck it Peter Moore! Suck it, gargle it and swallow you greedy bastard!

    Reply

    • Brady miaau

      July 2, 2014 at 17:12

      Woah, man. slow down. He could choke on a gem and you know how bloody expensive these things are……

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        July 2, 2014 at 17:21

        Nah man, this asshole tells us to get with the times? Instant karma. Plus now a precedent will be set hopefully, so that all these “F2P” games gets labeled correctly.

        Reply

  4. Weanerdog

    July 2, 2014 at 17:26

    EA – Its a typo it was meant to sat free to pay, don’t know where that L came from.

    Reply

  5. Hammersteyn

    July 2, 2014 at 17:30

    • Skyblue

      July 2, 2014 at 20:55

      Yeah dude, FUCK EA!

      Reply

    • HvR - Still dislikes Random.or

      July 2, 2014 at 21:00

      Did you add digital goods VAT to that?

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        July 3, 2014 at 07:38

        LOL no

        Reply

  6. MichaelMatusowsky

    July 2, 2014 at 17:51

    This isn’t F2P it’s P2W. The only F2P game in this world that I know if is DotA 2 and Path of Exile. Any payment within a “F2P” title that affects gameplay in ANY way including the permanent purchase of champions ala LoL can never be considered Free to Play. Even if it is a 0.01% boost to gem acquirement meaning after 1000 games you’ll have 100001 instead of 100000 gems is considered pay to win for me.

    Reply

    • MakeItLegal

      July 2, 2014 at 17:52

    • Gerhard Davids

      July 3, 2014 at 09:17

      I agree. LoL in my view is also free to play as is hearthstone.

      Even though getting new champions or buying card packs can be seen P2W it’s contentious at best.

      Reply

  7. MakeItLegal

    July 2, 2014 at 17:51

    Makes me feel sick Inside … Kak ness

    Reply

  8. Warren Lombard

    July 2, 2014 at 20:56

    Watch out for “War for the Overworld”

    Reply

  9. HvR - Still dislikes Random.or

    July 2, 2014 at 21:00

    EA promoting games as free to play is bit like prison services advertising free prostate exams.

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      July 3, 2014 at 07:39

      O_0

      Reply

  10. Sith JJ

    July 3, 2014 at 07:38

    Oh EA.
    You’ve fallen so far. I’ll never support you again.

    Reply

  11. Axon1988

    July 3, 2014 at 08:24

    Free to play… More like free to lose.

    Reply

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