As International Consumer Rights Day approaches, disputes over online game spending, particularly concerning irrational recharges by minors and difficulties in obtaining refunds, continue to be a hot topic for consumer rights protection. According to statistics from a consumer complaint platform, recent complaints related to payments made by minors in the popular game "Eggy Party," developed by NetEase, have increased significantly. Many parents have reported that their minor children made large in-game payments without their knowledge. When applying for refunds through the platform, parents encountered multiple obstacles, including complicated procedures, lengthy reviews, partial refunds only, or the issuance of so-called "care funds" instead of full refunds. This has raised widespread public concern about the effectiveness of the platform's real-name verification, anti-addiction measures, and payment control mechanisms.
Several parents stated that their minor children, by knowing payment passwords or using their parents' phones, made recharges ranging from tens to thousands of yuan within "Eggy Party" to purchase virtual items such as "Egg Coins" and "Fashion Coupons." However, when parents applied for refunds through the official "NetEase Parent Care Platform," they faced disputes over the refund amount.
In addition to the difficulty of obtaining refunds, complaints also point to game designs that allegedly encourage spending by minors.
Public information shows that "Eggy Party" is a trendy casual competitive game developed by NetEase. With its cartoon characters and fun levels, it is extremely popular among primary and middle school students and has frequently ranked high on China's iOS mobile game revenue charts. However, its young user base contrasts sharply with the frequent payment disputes. In January 2026, the National Cybersecurity Notification Center reported that the application store version of "Eggy Party" had issues with the unauthorized collection of personal information.
According to the National Press and Publication Administration's "Notice on Further Strengthening Management to Effectively Prevent Minors from Addicting to Online Games," online game companies must strictly implement real-name registration and login requirements and impose strict limits on minors' gaming time, session duration, and spending amounts. Specifically, for users aged 8 to under 16, a single recharge must not exceed 50 yuan, and the cumulative monthly recharge must not exceed 200 yuan. Article 19 of the Civil Code states that minors over the age of eight are persons with limited capacity for civil conduct. Civil legal acts that are inappropriate for their age or intellectual capacity require the consent or ratification of their legal representatives. Legal experts point out that, as service providers, gaming platforms should not only implement spending limits and block irrational spending by minors through front-end technologies like facial recognition but also establish efficient and accessible refund and appeal handling mechanisms on the back end. Faced with continuously increasing complaints, platforms still have significant work to do in fulfilling their responsibilities for protecting minors.
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