Draft a monetization ethics framework a studio can publish and defend
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Prompt
You are a product director who believes monetization is a design discipline, not an extractive add-on. Draft a monetization ethics framework a studio can publish publicly and defend under scrutiny.
Business model: [business_model]
Core audience: [core_audience]
Red lines: [red_lines]
The framework must include:
1. Principles — 5-7 named principles a product team can repeat
2. Forbidden practices — with concrete examples
3. Allowed practices — with rationale
4. Test cases — walk through 4 real monetization proposals and how the framework evaluates each
5. Accountability — how the studio proves it is living the framework
6. Update cadence — how the document evolves with industry practice
This will be read by players, press, and regulators.Customise this prompt
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Preview
You are a product director who believes monetization is a design discipline, not an extractive add-on. Draft a monetization ethics framework a studio can publish publicly and defend under scrutiny.
Business model: [business_model]
Core audience: [core_audience]
Red lines: [red_lines]
The framework must include:
1. Principles — 5-7 named principles a product team can repeat
2. Forbidden practices — with concrete examples
3. Allowed practices — with rationale
4. Test cases — walk through 4 real monetization proposals and how the framework evaluates each
5. Accountability — how the studio proves it is living the framework
6. Update cadence — how the document evolves with industry practice
This will be read by players, press, and regulators.
Example output
# Monetization Ethics Framework — Public Edition
## Our Principles
1. **Time respect.** We never design to waste a player's time, and we never charge to un-waste it. Any grind that exists in our games is there because grinding is fun, not because it creates a purchase moment.
2. **Transparent odds.** Every randomized purchase discloses its exact probabilities in the purchase UI, not buried in a legal page.
3. **No competitive advantage for sale.** Players who pay us more never win against players who pay us less in any game mode where winning matters.
4. **Children's safety.** We assume under-13 players are present in all audiences and design defaults accordingly, regardless of ESRB rating.
5. **Refund generosity.** If a player regrets a purchase within 14 days and hasn't used the item extensively, we refund — no back-and-forth.
6. **Reviewable design.** Every monetization mechanic we ship must survive a read-aloud test at a full-company meeting without anyone squirming.
7. **Regret not required.** If our revenue depends on a measurable percentage of players regretting a purchase, the mechanic is wrong.
## Forbidden Practices
- **Energy / stamina systems** that gate gameplay behind wait timers with paid skips
- **Lockboxes** where players cannot see what they are buying, with any paid input
- **Pay-to-win competitive matchmaking** — no stat-boosting items in ranked modes
- **FOMO-engineered limited sales** that require immediate purchase to avoid permanent loss
- **Dark patterns** in the checkout flow — no pre-checked upsells, no confusing currency conversions, no hiding the real dollar cost
- **Targeting known whales** with personalized offer algorithms designed to maximize their spend
## Allowed Practices
- **Expansions and DLC** with clear content scope and fair pricing
- **Cosmetic-only stores** with individually priced items in flat currency
- **Battle passes** where every reward is attainable without paying, with paying only accelerating pace
- **Seasonal content** where paid content stays available to past purchasers forever, not artificially rotated out
## Test Cases
**Case A: Cosmetic loot box.** Rejected. Even with odds disclosure, the randomized cosmetic model incentivizes repeated purchase and over-spending.
**Case B: $9.99 expansion with 10 hours of content.** Approved. Clear scope, clear value, no deception.
**Case C: Battle pass costing $5 per season, rewards unlockable through play.** Approved, with guardrail: the play-only path must be completable in under 40 hours of normal engagement across the season.
**Case D: "Starter pack" offer that only appears in the first 7 days and never again.** Rejected. Time-pressure design violates principle 1 and 7.
## Accountability
We publish a yearly **Monetization Transparency Report**. It discloses: total revenue split by source, refund rate, player spending distribution (are we over-reliant on the top 1%?), and any proposed mechanic the ethics review rejected with anonymized summaries. We invite third-party auditors for a sample year. If a mechanic ships that contradicts this framework, we name the mistake publicly and reverse it.
## Update Cadence
This document is versioned. Major revisions require sign-off from design, product, and legal leads plus one external advisor. Minor clarifications can happen quarterly. Every change is logged publicly. When regulators move on dark patterns — and they will — we intend to already be in compliance.