Microtransactions have unfortunately become a staple of popular video games over the last few years, and it seemingly every month a story will emerge about a child unknowingly spending thousands of dollars on in-game purchases before their parents find out. Even Kanye West hates microtransactions.
This story of one Canadian gamer’s incredible spending spree playing an EA Sports FIFA game on Xbox is stranger than most. Lance Perkins received a surprise charge on his credit card for $7,625.88 after his 17-year-old son went on a remarkable microtransaction binge, but he says his son had no idea he was spending real money.
Via the CBC:
“Perkins said he had given his son a credit card for emergencies or to make purchases for the family’s convenience store.
Although his son confessed he had been using the card illicitly, Perkins said his son, too, was truly shocked at how much he had spent. “He thought it was a one-time fee for the game,” Perkins said.
“He’s just as sick as I am, [because] he never believed he was being charged for every transaction, or every time he went onto the game.”
I do not believe that. That sounds like something a 17-year-old would tell a father who doesn’t understand how microtransactions work. There is no charge for simply booting up FIFA 16 on your Xbox, and the only one-time fee you pay is to buy the game in the first place.
Although the CBC story doesn’t specify, the kid certainly blew the $7,600 buying FIFA points, which can be redeemed for packs of players in FIFA’s Ultimate Team mode. It’s admittedly addicting, but you can’t spend $7,600 in FIFA by mistake.
The biggest single points purchase you can make is $99 (USD), meaning this kid made at least 70 separate purchases depending on which amount he was selecting each time — but it’s made very clear in the game that you’re spending actual money.
Perkins reached out to Xbox to try and have the charges reversed, but was unsurprisingly unsuccessful. As a result, he’s banning game consoles from his home forever.
“There will never be another Xbox system — or any gaming system — in my home.”
