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Kieran Robinson
9,411 PointsWhat are the rules surrounding in-app purchases?
Hello, We want to offer a ‘prize pot’ in our application, in that two or more players pay money into a prize fund, and the winner of the game gets this money. We were thinking of using PayPal to store the money, and then distribute a percentage to the winner (with us taking a small percentage). However, we’re not sure if this would infringe any of the guidelines surrounding iAP’s (in-App Purchases). Would this PayPal system be viable? Another possible approach would be to allow iAP’s to purchase virtual currency within the app, which the winner could redeem for real money via a PayPal transfer.
Furthermore, we believe this falls into the gambling sector, and according to the App Store guidelines: 20.5 - Apps that offer real money gaming (e.g. sports betting, poker, casino games, horse racing) or lotteries must have necessary licensing and permissions in the locations where the App is used, must be restricted to those locations, and must be free on the App Store. 20.6 - Apps that use IAP to purchase credit or currency to use in conjunction with real money gaming will be rejected.
We have seen an application on the App Store that has similar functionality: Pact (Pact: Earn Cash for Exercise, Healthy Living, and Eating Right). Pact allows users to set up a ‘pact’ for example going to the gym 3 days in a week would earn you $1.50 each day you complete. Or else you are required to pay out $5 per day you miss. This app has recently been updated on April 1st, 2015 and it has similar functionality to our idea, in that users agree on a price to pay out (via PayPal) if they do not complete a task. Would our idea comply with the App Store rules?
Any suggestions are welcome, Thanks
Jayden Spring
8,625 PointsJayden Spring
8,625 PointsYou wouldnt be able to charge people through many payment systems to be holding it in effect on trust for the players to then pay the winner later on - as bearing in mind realistically it takes 1-3 days for a payment method to be debited before the monies enter into the merchant account.
If you wanted to go down that route, you would need to speak to PayPal to see if they can offer a specific product or go straight to a Merchant Bank who can provide some flexible facilities.
As for gambling, esepcially in the UK there are various different pieces of legislation governing it and that really defines what is and is not classed as gambling (Lookup licensing act 2003 amongst others at legislation.gov.uk). I dont have much knowledge in licensing or game law but I think if you are taking real money, Apple would be the least of your worries and moreso the Gambling Comission giving you a headache.
If you look at 'gambling simulation' applications such as Zynga's poker app - there is no real money as a reward and as it is not real gambling. You would most likely need to find a solicitor with expiertise in the area to make sure that you are legally sound as if it takes off the last think you want is legal headaches.
If I have misunderstood - sorry - on a train at the moment!