Shameless in-game purchases aimed at kids have been in the new recently. But this five-year-old kid spent more than most: he blew $2500 on in-game junk in just 10 minutes. That’s impressive.
The boy in question is Danny Kitchen. The game is em, which is “free” for download on iTunes. When he was playing on his folks’ iPad one day, he asked for the iTunes password so he could download game. Danny’s parents typed it in, saying they were reassured by the fact that the game was listed as being free, and left him to get on with playing the thing.
Danny then went in-app purchase crazy, buying stacks of the $100 in-game keys and weapon packs, and racking up an enormous credit card bill for his mum. “I was worried, and I felt sad,” said Danny, when he found out. “I’m banned from the iPad now.” Too right.
Apple has agreed to refund the money. While it’s nice of Apple to do that, it would be nicer still if it stopped publishers putting abysmal, money-grabbing bundles of $US100 crap in games aimed at children. [BBC]
Gizmodo UK is gobbling up the news in a different timezone, so check them out if you need another Giz fix. [clear]