1、 CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU|APRIL 2024 Banking in video games and virtual worlds Issue spotlight 1 BANKING IN VIDEO GAMES AND VIRTUAL WORLDS Executive summary As video games and virtual worlds have become more and more popular,gaming assets have become increasingly valuable.Gaming assets a

2、re stored on a players accounts and used as a medium of exchange for all sorts of transactions within these worlds,including the purchase of goods and services and person-to-person(“P2P”)transfers.Banking and payment services that facilitate the storage and exchange of valuable assets generally prov

3、ide consumer protections,including recourse after unauthorized transactions.Yet operators of gaming and virtual worlds typically emphasize a“buyer beware”approach.The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau(CFPB)is monitoring marketsregardless of the infrastructure usedwhere financial products and serv

4、ices may be offered,including video games and virtual worlds.KEY FINDINGS Gaming assets flow in and out of gaming marketplaces in a variety of ways and can have immense value.To leverage that value,financial products and services have begun entering gaming in the form of payment processing,money tra

5、nsmission,and even loans.With the rise in value of gaming assets,there have also been increased reports of users losing access to gaming assets through hacking attempts,account theft,scams,and unauthorized transactions.Yet operators of gaming and virtual worlds do not appear to provide the kinds of

6、customer protections that apply to traditional banking and payment systems.Gaming publishers can collect a host of surveillance data about their users.This includes location data,social media data,and behavioral interactions,such as how a player responds to personalized incentives.There is risk that