Over the Shoulder Angle of a Young Female Gamer Winning in a Video Game on Personal Computer in a … More Neon Lit Living Room at Home. Cozy Evening at Home in Loft Apartment.
Video games are no longer just digital entertainment; they’re financial ecosystems. From “Roblox” to “Fortnite,” modern platforms are handling billions in real-world payments through wallets, currencies, and in-game economies. Players store value, exchange assets, and earn income in these environments, sometimes without realizing they’re engaging in financial transactions.
According to the company’s Q42024 earnings report, Roblox developers and creators earned $922.8 million—up from $740.8 million in 2023. Users spend immense sums on digital items, using Roblox’s proprietary currency, Robux. Players convert dollars into tokens, purchase virtual goods, tip creators, and sometimes even receive payouts. These are not isolated features; they’re increasingly central to how games operate and generate revenue.
This shift hasn’t gone unnoticed by regulators, and it should be on fintech leaders’ radars as well. What’s emerging is a parallel financial system with few of the obligations imposed on banks or payment processors.
In April 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published a report examining the growing prevalence of banking functions in video games. It noted that consumers are spending billions on virtual goods by transferring funds into gaming platforms—often with limited refund options, little fee transparency, and no standard user protections.
Shortly after, the CFPB issued a proposed interpretive rule clarifying that many digital wallets and stored-value accounts could fall under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act. That includes platforms where consumers deposit funds, access them through in-game wallets, and use them for purchases within a defined ecosystem.
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The rule, which was later rescinded in 2025, would have extended regulatory safeguards like fee disclosures, fraud liability limits, and error resolution to platforms whose stored-value systems function like prepaid products. Although the rollback provided temporary relief for developers, it signaled how regulators are beginning to view these platforms: not as games, but as gateways to financial risk.
Game Design Choices Carry Real Compliance Risk
Regulators have also turned their attention to the ways games nudge users into spending. In December 2022, Fortnite developer Epic Games paid a landmark $520 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it used dark patterns and billing practices that led to unauthorized charges. More recently, in January 2025, the FTC announced a $20 million settlement with “Genshin Impact” developer Cognosphere. Regulators accused the company of using manipulative loot box systems that hid the true cost of purchases and misled players, particularly minors, about their odds of success. The settlement requires age-gating, odds disclosure, and clearer purchase mechanics.
The enforcement trend is clear: if a platform uses behavioral tactics to encourage spending, especially among children, regulators will treat it as a consumer protection issue, not a UX decision.
Why Fintech Leaders Should Care
California is emerging as a leader in applying state laws to video game monetization. In 2024, the attorney general and Los Angeles city attorney reached a $500,000 settlement with Tilting Point Media over alleged violations of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) involving children’s data use in the game SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off. Meanwhile, New York has also taken steps to address the risks associated with in-game monetization. In 2024, the state’s Division of Consumer Protection issued a consumer alert warning about the financial and data privacy risks tied to in-game purchases, particularly loot boxes.
What’s happening in video games today is reshaping how the next generation experiences money. Gen Z and Gen Alpha are growing up with seamless, social, in-game financial interactions. These aren’t just expectations. They’re conditioning.
Fintech companies and the investors backing them should take note. Gaming platforms are winning trust by offering intuitive, creative, and frictionless payment experiences. But they’re also surfacing regulatory and ethical issues fintech has wrestled with for years: consent, transparency, refund rights, and youth protection.
Those who learn from the best parts of gaming UX and avoid the pitfalls will be well-positioned to serve the next generation of users. Because the future of money isn’t being invented in a bank lobby. It’s being beta tested in a game lobby.
