After posting our story on the new "age gate" policies for web sites and other materials for "M" rated games we have since discovered that one publisher is taking things to the next level on their official corporate web site. Activision has in addition to their game specific web sites for games like Quake 4 and True Crime: New York City a number of product pages on their official web site. However, if you attempt to access any of their product pages that promote "M" rated games (
see this link on the Activision page for a full list), a pop-up shows up with this message and the appropriate fill-in cards:
To access M-rated content please verify your age and enter a valid credit card number. Your credit card will not be charged.
Asking for a credit card number, even if that the message says it will not be charged, brings up some very serious questions. Why is Activision asking for credit card numbers to access product pages that promote "M" rated games when the ESRB and every other publisher only use the required "age gate"? What is Activision using this credit card info for? How is Activision keeping this information secure, especially when the theats of credit card number fraud and online theft are very real? Why is Activision asking for this information for product pages on its web sites and not on Activision's official web sites for "M" rated games like
http://www.quake4game.com and
http://www.truecrime.com which just ask for a person's age as the ESRB requires? Activision's own web site privacy policy mentions nothing about collecting credit card info to check out "M" rated product pages on their own site; it does mention getting that info to download "M" rated game demos, however.
We have sent an email to Activision's corporate PR represenative and hope to have an answer for this interesting development soon.
Update: While Activision's main web site may require age and credit card info to access "M" rated game product pages, it's sister company Activision Value does not. In it's listing of games on its web site, the one M rated title, Delta Ops, can be freely accessed with no "age gate" or credit card info needed.
