Epic Games has announced a new account that will give parents more control over their children’s spending in games.
Many games popular with children, such as Fortnite, Rocket League, and Fall Guys, contain microtransactions where people can purchase in-game goods.
Fall Guys is also included in the new account.
There have been horror stories of children accessing their parents’ accounts and spending large amounts of real money in these games.
As children often don’t understand the value of money, some don’t realise that their actions have consequences for their parents.
Particularly as money becomes more digital, they don’t understand that the money spent in-game affects their wallets in the real world.
However, the new kind of account can be linked to all these games and be used to control children’s spending.
The new Cabined Accounts are designed for younger players aged 13 and up, and require parents’ permission to access.
Parents can then choose to block off a number of features, such as purchasing in-game content, which can be changed at any time.
They can also block speaking to other players via voice chat, and downloading and playing games that are not pre-approved.
Features can be re-enabled at any time, and do not require parents to set up a new account.
Accounts that are already set up by players aged 13 to 18 will automatically be converted to Cabined Accounts giving parents more control over their children’s play.
Children with these accounts will still be able to play these games, but other features will be blocked until parental consent is given.
Epic Games claims the change was designed to create a “tailored experience that is safe and inclusive for younger players”.
However, children who set up accounts claiming to be 18 and over will need to have a new account created with their correct age to add parental controls.
If you are unsure what type of account your child is using, you can set up a new account for them.
This will allow you to set the account up with no need to continually monitor your child’s activity.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
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