Online game suspension and deletion of data was complained who is the game account? How is the recharge money compensated?

In the first three months of 2022, players of the mobile online game "Cloud Dress Hagoromo" experienced a roller coaster experience - holding an in-game event in January to attract players to "Krypton Gold", and suddenly announcing that it was about to be suspended in February, the latest development was: On March 30, under the impetus of the China Consumer Association, "Cloud Dress Hagoromo" announced that it would suspend the suspension process and would continue to provide game services.

The operation of "Cloud Dress Feather" was complained by players that "eating is ugly", but the biggest controversy is how the game account and consumption will be handled after the suspension - according to the previous suspension compensation plan, the player's in-game consumption can only be exchanged for the prop package of the other three games, and all account data will be deleted after the suspension.

In this regard, a large number of players left messages expressing dissatisfaction, calling for "virtual property should be protected by law". Some experts told Nandu reporters that although there are general provisions on virtual property in the Civil Code, there is a lack of specific operability and evaluation standards, which makes it difficult for users to protect their rights, and it is recommended to introduce special laws.

Complained by multiple players1, "Cloud Dress Feather" announced the suspension process, and "Cloud Dress Feather" announced the suspension process

Nandu reporter learned that "Yunsheng Feather" is a collection game developed by Chengdu Xishan Jushiyou Technology Co., Ltd., and the operation of Chinese mainland is represented by Tencent. At the end of last year, the official announcement began to launch a long-term return to the precious set from 2022 – in the eyes of many players, this is a signal of long-term operation. The event attracted a large number of players to "Krypton Gold", and many players left messages saying that they had recharged thousands of yuan or even tens of thousands of yuan in the game.

However, on February 20, the official Weibo of "Yunsheng Haoyi" suddenly announced that Tencent was about to terminate the operation of the "Yunsheng Haoyi" mobile game in Chinese mainland, that is, stop game recharge and new user registration after five days, stop game operation after two months, and close the game's official website, server, forum, and exclusive customer service. In addition, all account data and character profiles in the game will be deleted.

On the 24th, the compensation plan was announced: players can only exchange the balance in the account for the prop package of Tencent's other three designated games according to the price range. The announcement also said: "Once you participate in the compensation activity, it is considered to be an endorsement of the compensation/replacement scheme." If the user does not participate in the compensation activities within the aforesaid period, it is deemed to be an automatic waiver of the right to compensation/replacement. ”

But for many players, their recharge is to rush to the game experience of "Cloud Hagoromo" and are not interested in other games. Some players have left messages saying that some packages can be obtained by doing only one day's daily tasks, which is very cheap.

According to the open letter released by the rights protection players, after the announcement of the suspension of service, the players had spontaneously complained through the national regulatory authorities and the third-party complaint platform, but they were not accepted on the grounds that they were not within the scope. On March 30, the China Consumers Association responded, saying that under its attention and promotion, Yunsheng Haori suspended the suspension process and would continue to provide game services.

However, according to the announcement of "Cloud Dress Hagoromo", the in-game related services provided to users in the future will no longer be opened for payment. Some players left a message questioning: "Suspension is not termination." When will it be suspended, half a year later or a year later? Don't make everyone happy now, and then delete data after a while. There are also players who call on the official to give a clear answer, "Don't just deal with the Consumer Association temporarily!" ”

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Is the compensation scheme reasonable? Restricting user choice or violating consumer protection laws

Nandu reporter noted that the incident of online games stopping and deleting data is not the first time. In the past few years, NetEase's "On the Black Tide", "Apocalypse of the Magic Book", Tencent's "My Dynasty", "All Democracy" and other games have been shut down, and all account data in the game will be emptied after the shutdown, and the compensation is only a gift package or benefit to other games of the company.

Many rights defenders said that this compensation scheme only leads players to other games to continue to "be slaughtered", players are "leeks" that are cut at will, and they are more likely to retain account data, change the game to a single machine or directly refund money.

△ Rights protection player message

Nandu reporter combed and found that the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Games" issued by the Ministry of Culture clearly stipulates that if an online game operation enterprise terminates the operation of online games, or the right to operate online games is transferred, it shall be announced 60 days in advance. Online game virtual currency and game services that have not yet been used by online game users shall be returned or exchanged in legal tender or other methods accepted by the user in the proportion of the user's purchase.

Although the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Games" has been abolished in 2019, some insiders told Nandu reporters that the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Games" is still an important basis for handling disputes related to online games.

Zhu Wei, deputy director of the Communication Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, believes that according to the provisions of the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law, consumers have the right to know, choose and fair trade in transactions. The compensation of "Cloud Feather" only allows players to redeem the gift package on three platforms, and the value is stipulated by the platform, which does not take into account the diversified demands of players and does not give players more room for choice, violating the right of consumers to fair trade.

He also said that although "Cloud Dress Feather" has now announced the suspension of service, it cannot be regarded as a success in the protection of players' rights. Because the real success of rights protection is not to require the game to operate forever after the game is difficult to operate normally, but the platform can negotiate with the user before the player enters the game, negotiate with the user to formulate a reasonable compensation agreement that the user is willing to accept, and once the game stops operating, the player's virtual property can be compensated in accordance with the agreement. For example, a third-party appraisal department evaluates a player's virtual property and then provides the player with a variety of compensation options, such as converting it into fiat currency for a refund.

Through the case of "Yun Fei Yu Yi", Zhu Wei believes that a special legal system should be set up to make specific provisions on virtual property, such as classifying virtual property according to social platforms, games, online stores, etc., and then classifying them through assessment weights, and exploring specific measures for the transfer and transfer of use rights.

The lack of direct legal provisions for virtual property leads to difficulties in safeguarding rightsThe lack of direct legal provisions leads to difficulties in safeguarding rights

With the development of the Internet, our property types have become more and more diverse, and virtual properties such as WeChat wallets, Alipay, and game equipment have also become an important part of personal property. In the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, "where the law has provisions on the protection of data and online virtual property, follow those provisions." The clause is the first time that the property rights attributes of online virtual property are recognized from the legal level.

In fact, more and more people are beginning to realize the importance of virtual property. According to the recently released "2021 China Will Bank White Paper", young groups such as "post-00s" and "post-90s" have written virtual property into their wills, of which the proportion of "post-90s" testamentary property involving virtual property is as high as 81.82%.

Compared with online virtual property with both property rights and personal rights, such as WeChat and Alipay, the ownership of the virtual property in the game account and the account often belongs to the game company, and the player has no right to transfer it.

As the Tencent Game License and Service Agreement writes, the ownership and intellectual property rights of the game data generated by the user in the use of the Tencent game service belong to Tencent, and Tencent has the right to save and dispose of the game data; if the user uses legal tender to recharge the game to purchase or exchange game virtual props and other value-added services, it will not be refunded or converted into legal tender.

Similarly, the NetEase Game License and Service Agreement states that the game account data information, character data information, level and virtual item data information are owned by NetEase, and once the RMB is converted into value-added service currency, it is deemed to have been used, and the value-added service currency cannot be converted into RMB.

So, the account that the player has spent a lot of time, energy and even real money to operate is not the personal property of the player? Is it protected by law?

Zhu Wei believes that although there are general provisions on virtual property in the Civil Code, it lacks specific operability and evaluation standards, which makes it difficult for users to protect their rights. Because of this, the game company stipulates that the ownership of the account belongs to the platform, and the user only has the right to use, and the control is naturally in the hands of the platform. The platform can understand the virtual property as a service contract, although the user has spent time and money, but also enjoyed the game service, then the platform as long as the service is completed, it can also make rules at will, when the game can not operate can also stop operating.

In his view, virtual property condenses the user's undifferentiated labor, which is obtained by spending time, energy or by purchasing, but because the user only has the right to use the account, it is difficult to define the ownership of the property under the account.

Yang Lixin, a professor at the Law School of Chinese Min University, believes that virtual property should be the concept of things in civil law and the object of property rights, for example, the equipment and weapons on the game website are valuable things obtained by players through purchases and a considerable amount of time, and their ownership belongs to the player.

He explained that as a thing under civil law, the attributes of online virtual property belong to virtual real or movable property, such as websites, which are virtual real estate, while Bitcoin, game weapons, equipment, etc. are virtual movable property. They all have the value of exchange, the value created by condensed labor, and they all belong to the category of things, so these virtual properties should be treated according to things, and ownership can be set and exchanged.

For the exchange of virtual property, a creditor's right will occur, such as the user renting an online shop on the online trading platform, the ownership of the shop belongs to the website, and the user has the right to use the online store according to the lease or borrowing contract.

"At present, the law does not have clear provisions on virtual property, and the Civil Code only stipulates the concept of online virtual property, which is actually the object of property rights. Because there are no specific regulations, in order to avoid legal liability, some online game companies will attribute the amount of ownership agreement of game weapons and equipment to the game company in the service rules, and if they do not agree, they cannot participate. Yang Lixin pointed out that in the judgments of some courts, the property of the online virtual property is confirmed, and the game company loses and steals the player's game equipment due to fault, and the game company needs to bear the liability for compensation. And theft of players' game equipment, the court will also be convicted of theft. "These jurisprudences all show that online virtual property, such as game equipment, is treated as a thing and protected as a thing."

However, he also mentioned that since there is no clear provision in the law, there is no uniform basis for the court's judgment, so the judgment is not exactly the same, and it is still necessary to make clear provisions in legislation.

【Source: Southern Metropolis Daily】