By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Cognosphere, the publisher of the anime-style fantasy video game “Genshin Impact,” has agreed to pay $20 million to settle allegations by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that the company violated privacy laws in children.

It also blocks children under the age of 16 from making in-game purchases without parental consent as part of the settlement, the FTC said.

The FTC accused Singapore-based Cognossphere of unfairly marketing loot boxes to children that hid the true cost and misled all players about the possibility of earning prizes.

The game is developed by Chinese developer MiHoYo.

“While we believe many of the FTC’s allegations are inaccurate, we agree to this settlement because we value the trust of our community and share a commitment to transparency for our players,” Cognosphere said in a statement. a statement.

The company says it will introduce new age-gate and parental consent protections for children and young teens and increase in-game disclosure around virtual currency and rewards. for US players in the coming months.