contextualMONcanonical

Be transparent — disclose odds and true costs; enable informed consent

GDC-L1-MON-0005

Strong4/5

Statement

Tell players the truth about what they're buying: disclose the real cost in money and the odds of any randomized reward, in plain terms, before purchase. Informed consent requires that material information — true price, drop rates, what the item does — be visible, not buried.

Rationale

A purchase decision is only fair if the player has the information to make it, and randomized or currency-obscured monetization routinely hides exactly what the player needs: the real-money cost to obtain a specific reward, and the probability of getting it [S-monetization-ethics]. Concealing this — through opaque premium currencies, layered conversions, or undisclosed loot-box odds — is what makes such systems a dark pattern (MON-0003) and, increasingly, illegal. Transparency is the antidote: publish odds, show true costs, and make the terms legible (UX-0003). It's also simply respectful — a studio confident its offers are fair has no reason to hide them. Disclosure lets players who want to spend do so knowingly, and lets others opt out.

Applies when

Any paid transaction, and especially any randomized reward (loot boxes, gacha) or multi-currency store.

Does not apply / Exceptions

Straightforward fixed-price purchases (a $10 expansion, a named cosmetic) already carry their information and need little extra disclosure. Some surprise/reveal in earned (non-paid) rewards is fine — the transparency duty attaches to money. Platform and regional regulations set minimums; meeting them is a floor, not a ceiling.

Implementation

Publish drop rates/odds for randomized paid rewards. Show the real-money cost, not just an opaque currency amount. State what an item does before purchase. Make prices and terms legible (UX-0003), not buried in menus. Where minors may play, err further toward clarity and restraint (MON-0003). Treat legal minimums as the floor.

Disagreement

Little serious dissent that transparency is right; the industry tension is how much disclosure hurts revenue (obscurity sells) versus builds trust. Regulators and player-respect ethics push toward full disclosure; some business practice resists it. This principle sides with disclosure.

Notes

The informed-consent principle of MON; the honest counterpart to dark patterns (MON-0003) and an application of clear communication (UX-0003) to money. Confidence 4.

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Connected principles

GDC-L1-MON-0003 · Refuse dark patterns — don't exploit cognitive biases to extract spending GDC-L1-UX-0003 · Make the interface communicate — readability, hierarchy, and feedback GDC-L1-MON-0001 · Choose a monetization model that fits the game and is honest about the deal

Source trail

S-monetization-ethics

Gutiérrez-Manjón et al. “Designing for Monetization: A Taxonomy of Dark Patterns in Top-Grossing GaaS Video Games.” Tripodos 59 (2026); Erica Neely. “Come for the Game, Stay for the Cash Grab.” Games and Culture 16, no. 2 (2021); Sato et al. “An Empirical Taxonomy of Monetized Random Reward Mechanisms in Games.” DiGRA 2020.

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