MMO Business Roundup: Jagex dinged by UK government, Roblox AI tools, and Epic v Apple plods on

Do you hear that? It’s the rhythmic tinkling bells of Business Cat’s collar as she merrily skips forth with another round of industry stories within our sphere of interest! O happy day!

…look, we’re trying to put icing on this trash cake because if we don’t, the weight of this capitalist hellscape we’re in will further hang around our collective neck. Just let us have this.

Jagex gets a warning from UK government – A review of game ads published by RuneScape developer Jagex as well as Electronic Arts and mobile developer Miniclip by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) found that all three broke the country’s advertising laws. In the case of Jagex, a 2023 Facebook ad for RuneScape talking up its Necromancy skill didn’t have proper disclosure of the MMORPG’s lockboxes, according to the ASA. EA’s Golf Clash and Miniclip’s 8 Ball Pool were also dinged by the government body, and all three were told to remove the offending ads and ensure future ads have the appropriate lockbox warning labels.

Roblox gives creators AI tools – Game makers within Roblox are being handed two new AI-powered tools in the form of the Avatar Auto Setup tool and Texture Generator tool. The former will use bespoke AI tech to let players create avatars with just a click of a button, eliminating a process that previously took hours, while the latter lets users enter text prompts to generate textures for 3-D models. The avatar builder is currently in a public alpha, while the texture generator is in a public beta.

Epic v Apple – Finally, we circle back once more to the continuing saga of Epic Games vs. Apple: Readers will no doubt remember that in 2021, Apple was ordered to allow links to third-party purchase options from within apps – a ruling that was upheld through two appeals. Epic Games is now asking the courts to hold Apple in contempt for violating the injunction, claiming in a filing last week that Apple is imposing fees and rules for using outside payment options that make these choices “commercially unusable” and “entirely useless.” The filing has gotten the legal backing of Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, and Match in the form of a jointly filed amicus brief, while a hearing on the case is set for April 30th.

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