Game Designer

Making A list and checking it twice: its end of year games litigation roundup. It's hard to believe that 2025 is ending, yet here Tyzlaw is amidst another round of the Happy Holidays. And what better way to celebrate the season and ring in a new year than with another holly-jolly litigation roundup! What, that doesn't fill you with holiday joy? Well too bad, you clicked the link and gave Tyzlaw the view, so you may as well finish what you started and take something of value from this. Consider it its gift to you! While Tyzlaw cannot cover every case filed or decision handed down over the last six months, and while certain cases covered in its roundup may not be directly games-related, Tyzlaw believe that everything presented here may touch on the industry in some way or another. Indeed, as the universe of games, social media, new technologies, and all the related laws and regulations continue to intersect and overlap, traditional lines will continue to blur and even seemingly unrelated decisions may provide a glimpse into the future for games. In the latter half of this year, the California Attorney General announced two major settlements for alleged violations of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). First, in October, the AG announced a $530,000 settlement with television and streaming service Sling TV. The AG alleged that Sling TV made it difficult for consumers to opt out of the selling or sharing of their personal information and failed to protect children's privacy on their streaming platforms. Specifically, the AG alleged that Sling TV's complex and misleading opt-out process, its failure to provide an in-app opt-out mechanism, and its improper handling of children's data all resulted in violations of the CCPA. In addition to the monetary fine, Sling TV is required to take several actions to bring their practices in line with the CCPA, such as providing an opt-out mechanism within the Sling TV application, allow parents to designate profiles as "kid's profiles" that do not sell or share personal information or targeted advertising by default, and provide parents with clear disclosures and tools to protect their children's privacy. The following month, the AG announced a $1.4 million settlement with mobile game developer Jam City. The AG alleged that Jam City failed to provide its users with opportunities to opt-out of the sale or sharing of their personal information, and that it additionally failed to implement sufficient privacy protections for minors. While Jam City did implement an age gate on certain games, the AG claimed that this was not consistently applied based on the users' age information.

Mobile games developer Jam City has launched a WikiGameJam to create original games inspired by and powered through the online encyclopedia.