FTC/DOJ HoYoverse (Genshin Impact) 20m USD COPPA and loot-box settlement

On 17 January 2025 the FTC announced that Cognosphere Pte. Ltd and Cognosphere LLC (doing business as HoYoverse), maker of Genshin Impact, agreed to pay $20 million and accept injunctive terms to settle allegations of COPPA violations and unfair/deceptive loot-box practices (FTC press release).

Allegations and order terms (as summarised by FTC)

The DOJ complaint, on FTC referral, alleged Genshin Impact was marketed to children, collected children’s personal information without COPPA notice/consent, obscured real costs via multi-tier virtual currency, and misled players about odds of obtaining five-star prizes. Proposed order terms (subject to court approval as noted by FTC) include: ban on allowing children under 16 to purchase loot boxes without a parent’s affirmative express consent; ban on selling loot boxes using virtual currency without a direct real-money purchase option; prohibitions on misrepresenting odds, prices and features; duties to disclose loot-box odds and multi-tier currency exchange rates; deletion of under-13 personal information absent parental consent; and COPPA compliance.

Commission vote to refer was 5–0, with partial dissents noted on some counts.

Operator action

Stipulated orders take force when approved and signed by the district court — confirm docket status before treating every term as live.

Download the change-log card.

Research checked 20 September 2026. Local draft; human editorial review pending.