Puzzle & Dragons spending limit for minors not coming to territories outside of Japan

The developer of the hugely popular and profitable mobile title Puzzle & Dragons recently put spending limits on its younger gamers in Japan, but those restrictions aren’t coming to the U.S. or other markets.

Last week, GamesBeat reported that developer GungHo Online Entertainment won’t let players of its role-playing match-3 puzzler in Japan spend more than approximately $50 in yen if they are younger than 16. Players age 16 to 19, meanwhile, have a monthly limit of around $200.

GamesBeat reached out to GungHo, which confirmed that these limitations are only intended for the Japanese audience.

“The feature is a Japanese-based initiative, so it will only appear in the Japanese version,” a GungHo spokesperson told GamesBeat. “At the moment, we have no plans to expand this exact restriction to other regions. It’s our desire to adhere to the specific laws and regulations for each territory.”

As for why GungHo even did something like this in the first place, the studio pointed to several influencing factors.

“Japanese laws, ministry policies, industry regulations, general business practices, and even requests from the community were considered before ultimately deciding that the age restriction was the best solution to keep the game accessible while still protecting minors,” said GungHo’s spokesperson.

While U.S. parents might welcome something like this, the government rarely steps in to regulate these types of transactions between businesses and consumers in this country. In Japan, GungHo could potentially face tougher rules if it doesn’t take voluntary steps.

Puzzle & Dragons is one of the most profitable games in the world. Earlier this year, it was making more than $3.75 million every day.

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