The Commonwealth Advertising Practice Committee (CAP) of the British Advertising Standards Bureau (ASA) has issued a new enforcement notice requiring mobile game advertisements to increase transparency in the use of trophy boxes. In particular, CAP warns developers, distributors and advertisers who use this method of realization for advertisements for random purchases in Google Play and Apple App Store.
The relevant company has three months to review and revise its shop list, after which CAP and ASA will initiate action against violators. In a statement to the media, ASA indicated that a number of cases had been found in which trophies had not been adequately disclosed in the list of applications stores. ASA indicated that the company concerned would be facing follow-up action, possibly including formal investigations and advertising bans, for several months to “regulate the internal order”. The regulator stated: “From 26 May 2026, we will begin to proactively monitor the list of app stores and, if rules are found not to be respected, will take targeted enforcement action.” Our guide explains that simple wording such as `includes random purchases’ or `includes trophies’ may be sufficient to clarify that the game involves trophies. However, it needs to be placed in a visible position – users should not need to click, expand labels or scrollbar descriptions to find this information.”
In 2025, ASA and CAP updated and reissued the trophy box guide to prevent consumers from being misled in the content, cost and impact of in-playing. The list of focused application shops was notified this time because ASA considered them “the final decision point before the game was downloaded”. “It is essential at that stage that people be able to make a wise choice by removing from sight whether the game contains trophies. However, the same rules still apply to advertisements in other media, “as indicated by the regulator. “We have banned a number of advertisements that do not mention the existence of the trophy box of the civil war, and will continue to investigate and act as necessary.” According to CAP Compliance Executive Joseph Cahill, consumers are informed in advance of downloading or purchasing video games about key information on the type of in-house purchases. He added: “This enforcement notice sends a clear signal to the industry – if a game contains a trophy box, it must be clearly communicated to the player before it is downloaded or purchased. We will not hesitate to act when advertisers fail to meet these standards.”
