The Italian Competition Authority on Friday launched two investigations into Activision Blizzard (MSFT), alleging that the “Diablo Immortal” and “Call of Duty Mobile” video games promoted aggressive practices and breached consumers’ contractual rights.
The investigations focus on the possible use of deceptive user-interface design by the company, which aimed at inducing consumers to play more often, extend their gaming sessions, and take up promoted offers, the Italian authorities said.
According to Italian authorities, the parental control features pre-set by the company appear to be aggressive, as they automatically default to options that offer a lower level of protection for minors without there being any active involvement or supervision by a parent or guardian.
They also intend to examine how consent for the processing of personal data is obtained when creating an account.
