The First Court for Children and Youth of Brazil’s Federal District has ordered major technology companies and video game publishers to pay a combined fine of 298 million Brazilian reais (approximately $58.4 million).
The ruling follows public civil lawsuits filed by the National Association of Child and Adolescent Protection Centers (ANCED). The court found that the companies knowingly employed "predatory" random reward mechanics that are comparable to traditional gambling and violate the Statute of Children and Adolescents, particularly its new digital version, ECA Digital, introduced in March 2026.
We previously reported that, as part of these proceedings, Riot Games was fined 15 million Brazilian reais (approximately $2.9 million) in collective moral damages over loot boxes in League of Legends. However, the final court ruling proved to be much broader in scope and affected several other industry leaders.
The financial penalties were distributed according to each company's market influence and audience reach:
- Apple, Microsoft, and Tencent (publisher of PUBG Mobile) — 50 million reais ($9.81 million) each;
- Google and Sony — 40 million reais ($7.84 million) each;
- Electronic Arts (Apex Legends, EA FC) — 20 million reais ($3.92 million);
- Riot Games — 15 million reais ($2.94 million);
- Valve (CS2, Dota 2) and Ubisoft (Rainbow Six Siege) — 10 million reais ($1.96 million) each;
- Konami (eFootball) — 8 million reais ($1.57 million).
The court's decision remains subject to appeal. At the same time, some details regarding Riot Games' situation remain unclear. Three months before the compliance deadline, the company proactively raised the age rating to 18+ and strengthened verification requirements for League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, Wild Rift, 2XKO, and Legends of Runeterra. It is currently unknown what specific shortcomings led to the fine despite these measures, and Riot Games stated that it has no additional information regarding the case.
Despite the right to appeal, the ruling imposes immediate technical requirements on operators conducting business in Brazil. Publishers are required to implement strict age-verification systems, establish effective refund mechanisms for parents, display clear warnings regarding the random nature of microtransactions, and publish the exact statistical drop rates for every obtainable item. Once all appeal procedures have been completed, the collected funds will be transferred entirely to the Federal District Fund for the Protection of the Rights of Children and Adolescents.
As a reminder, the trailer for Overwatch Season 3: Into the Tiger’s Den has been released.