Hidden risks behind sky-high game accounts
By Ni Ming, All Media Reporter, Guangzhou Daily
The game industry has been "prosperous" against the trend due to the impact of the epidemic, and game accounts have frequently hit sky-high prices.
A recent investigation by reporters found that the sky-high game accounts of major trading platforms are just superficial. In fact, the problem of "difficult value preservation and more chaos" in game account transactions has frequently appeared. How to ensure the security of game account transactions has attracted much attention.
Most game service providers agree that users only have usage rights but no ownership. Is it legal for players to buy and sell accounts privately? As a game company, how should you deal with these disputes?
All media reporters from Guangzhou Daily launched an investigation.
Hot deals:
There are game accounts priced at millions of yuan
With the explosive growth of the online game industry in recent years, game account trading platforms have also emerged.
During the epidemic, many people spend their time playing games at home.
In order to be "eager to upgrade", some players do not hesitate to buy game accounts online; there are also players who are "dedicated" to spend money to buy equipment to fight monsters, upgrade, and continuously upgrade the level of game accounts. When the account reaches a certain level, resell their game accounts online. .
However, game accounts that have been invested a lot of time and money by players naturally rise, and they are frequently sold at high prices.
"All-hero, full-skin, and high-rank accounts are sold at a low price, and QQ can be added to discuss if necessary..." On multiple social and second-hand trading platforms, game account transaction information is very active.
On online game trading platforms such as 5173 and 7881, the reporter saw that under the category of "hot games", the price of game accounts ranged from 1 yuan to 1 million yuan.
High-priced game accounts are mainly concentrated on mobile games such as "Dungeons and Warriors", "League of Legends", "Crossing the Line of Fire", "Fantasy Westward Journey" and mobile games such as "Onmyoji", "Glory of the King" and "Peace Elite".
Among them, the unit price of the "Honor of Kings" account is not the highest, but due to the hot game and large transaction demand, the overall transaction volume is firmly in the top spot.
According to industry insiders, the popularity of game account transactions is directly proportional to the popularity of games, but the asset value of the account is not necessarily dependent on the type of game. For example, the account asset attribute of MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) mobile games will be heavier and longer. The greater the account value.
"Generally, high-value game accounts are some classic IPs, but they may not necessarily maintain their value. Some players have invested several million yuan to raise accounts. It is difficult to say whether the cost can be recovered in the end."
Fraud frequently:
Suffered serial scams when selling game accounts
Game account transactions are hot, and criminals are eyeing this opportunity.
The reporter searched the Internet using "game account transaction" as the key word and found that among the 30 recent news about game account transactions, half of them were related to "scams."
The auxiliary police from Baoyuzhi Community in Haizhu District told reporters: "During the epidemic, game account fraud cases occurred frequently."
For example, when 17-year-old Xiao Wu was playing a QQ game on his mobile phone, he suddenly received a message from a stranger asking if he could sell his game account.
Xiao Wu added the other party's QQ account, and through conversation, decided to sell the game account to the other party for 500 yuan.
The other party said that he recharged 500 yuan on a certain platform and asked Xiao Wu to withdraw cash.
Xiao Wu followed the instructions to search for the platform and registered an account.
When Xiao Wu was about to withdraw, the system showed that the withdrawal failed.
Xiao Wu contacted "Platform Customer Service", but was told that his account had been frozen and he needed to recharge and unfreeze fees to activate the account.
Xiao Wu paid 2,300 yuan to recharge as required.
As a result, "Customer Service" again asked Xiao Wu to continue the transfer on the grounds that the recharge failed.
Xiao Wu asked the "customer service" for an immediate refund, but was banned.
Focus 1: Who does the game account belong to?
It is understood that at present, the user agreements of most game manufacturers directly or indirectly stipulate that the game manufacturer is the owner of the game account.
For example, Tencent’s "Tencent Game License and Service Agreement" stipulates: "Although there are other provisions in this agreement, the ownership and intellectual property rights of the game data generated by your use of Tencent game services belong to Tencent, and Tencent has the right to save and dispose of the Game data."
In this regard, Lawyer Chen Liang, senior partner of Guangdong Legal Shengbang Law Firm and Director of Criminal Affairs Department, believes that although game accounts and game equipment only exist in virtual space, they objectively have certain use value or transaction value and should be considered Treated as network virtual property.
The newly promulgated Civil Code follows the provisions of the General Principles of the Civil Law and clearly incorporates it into the scope of legal protection, that is, "if the law has provisions on the protection of data and network virtual property, follow these provisions."
However, my country has not yet enacted special legislation on virtual property, so the regulations on the protection of virtual property are generally vague, and there are no specific and enforceable regulations.
"In the service agreement signed by the player and the game service provider, the account registration and use, tariff policy, the attribution of virtual items and other content related to the rights and obligations of the player will be comprehensive and detailed." Chen Liang said.
Focus 2: Is the game account transaction legal?
The reporter's investigation found that some game platforms allow game account transactions and provide an official trading platform.
For example, NetEase’s Zangbaoge platform provides an official trading platform for various games under NetEase.
Some game platforms do not allow game account transactions, and a large number of account transaction disputes often stem from private transactions between players.
Regarding players conducting private transactions through unofficial channels, a person from Tencent Games told Guangzhou Daily all-media reporters that in order to protect the interests and experience of players, according to the user agreement, private transactions of game accounts are not allowed, resulting in disputes, fraud and other behaviors. , At its own risk.
"Account information for private transactions, once discovered, will be punished by banning."
Is it legal to trade game accounts privately?
Although most game service providers agree that users only have the right to use without ownership, from a legal point of view, Chen Liang believes that the game account and the game equipment it contains objectively have a certain value, and the right to use is also due to its own rights. It can also be regarded as virtual property. It is not illegal to trade your game account with others without violating the terms of use and scope of application stipulated in the service agreement.
Xiong Bingwan, an associate professor at Renmin University of China Law School and a researcher at Renmin University of China’s Future Rule of Law Institute, also told Guangzhou Daily all-media reporters that the principle should respect the contract terms of the game company, but there is an exception, if the user applies for an account or recharges , If the game company does not clearly indicate the "only use right" clause, this clause is likely to constitute the case of Article 496, paragraph 2 of the Civil Code (the other party can claim that this clause does not constitute the content of the contract).
Police reminder:
The transaction must go through official channels
The transaction of game equipment and accounts must go through official channels. Private transactions are not only easy to cause the loss of equipment and accounts, but also may cause economic losses to the victim.
If you find that you have been cheated, you should keep a screenshot of the relevant evidence and dial 110 to report to the police.
Industry recommendations:
Combine blockchain technology
Build an asset trading platform
On the one hand, the growing game market, on the other hand, the shortcomings of the unofficial game account trading market are highlighted, and there are increasing calls for game officials to establish a safe game trading platform.
Chen Da, a practitioner in the game industry, believes that virtual item transactions such as game accounts can be combined with blockchain technology to open up the state of separation between games and games, and establish a more efficient asset trading platform.