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Acceptable Use Policy Generator for games

Written for player accounts, in-game purchases, chat moderation and the fact that a lot of players are children.

Generate your acceptable use policy Read the acceptable use policy guide

Multiplayer games need enforceable conduct rules more urgently than most platforms, because harm happens in real time and moderation decisions are made in seconds by people who need a clear reference.

Games have the demographic problem no other consumer software shares at the same scale: a substantial share of players are children, and the ones who are not usually cannot be distinguished from the ones who are without asking. That single fact drives COPPA, the UK Age Appropriate Design Code, and the restrictions on advertising to minors.

The data itself is broader than most teams expect. Device identifiers, play sessions, purchase history, chat logs, voice communications, matchmaking telemetry and anti-cheat data - the last two of which collect at a depth that would be alarming in any other product category.

Monetisation adds regulatory attention. Loot boxes, virtual currency and in-app purchases are under active scrutiny across several jurisdictions, and disclosure requirements around odds, pricing and consumer rights are tightening.

What a acceptable use policy for a game or gaming platform has to cover

Prohibited conduct in chat, voice and gameplay, specific enough to enforce consistently
Cheating, exploits, account sharing and real-money trading
Reporting routes and what happens after a report
The enforcement ladder from mute to permanent ban, and how appeals work
Additional protections applying where a player is known or likely to be a child

How a game or gaming platform actually moves personal data

Player accounts and progression

Identity, progress, inventory and achievements, usually linked to a platform account as well as your own.

Chat and voice communications

Text and voice retained for moderation, sometimes transcribed and analysed automatically.

Anti-cheat telemetry

Process lists, driver information and behavioural signals collected from the player’s machine at a depth that requires clear disclosure.

Matchmaking and behavioural scoring

Skill and behaviour ratings that determine who a player is matched with, which is profiling.

In-game purchases and virtual currency

Purchase history and balances, often through a platform holder rather than directly.

Advertising and attribution SDKs

In free-to-play titles especially, with restrictions where players may be children.

Third parties the draft will ask you about

Steam, PlayStation Network or Xbox Live · Unity or Unreal services · Easy Anti-Cheat or BattlEye · Vivox or Discord · AppsFlyer · AWS or Google Cloud · Stripe or platform billing

The rules that apply

Children’s privacy regimes

COPPA for under-13s in the US, the Age Appropriate Design Code in the UK, and digital age of consent rules across the EU - each with a different threshold.

Anti-cheat data collection

Kernel-level and behavioural anti-cheat collects deeply from the player’s device, which needs unusually specific disclosure.

Chat and voice moderation

Recording, retaining and analysing player communications for safety, which is processing with its own basis and retention.

Virtual currency and loot boxes

Disclosure requirements on odds and pricing, with several jurisdictions restricting or banning specific mechanics.

Platform holder requirements

Console and store certification imposes its own privacy and safety requirements beyond the law.

What the generated acceptable use policy contains

Prohibited content and conduct
The categories you will not host, written specifically enough to enforce and narrowly enough to defend.
Technical restrictions
Rate limits, scraping, load testing, resource abuse and circumvention of quotas.
Security research boundaries
What testing is permitted, how to report a finding, and what will not be treated as an attack.
Reporting and moderation
How abuse is reported, what happens next, and the timescales you work to.
Enforcement ladder
Warning, throttle, suspension, termination - with the emergency route for genuinely urgent harm.
Appeals
How someone contests a decision, which several online-safety regimes now require rather than merely encourage.

Games compliance essentials

Build a market-aware age gate
The threshold differs by jurisdiction, and a single number is wrong somewhere.
Write anti-cheat its own disclosure
What it reads, when it runs, and what leaves the machine.
Set chat and voice retention
Long enough for moderation and appeals, no longer.
Disable behavioural advertising for under-age accounts
And describe how age status is determined.
Publish loot box odds where mechanics involve chance
And keep the disclosure with the purchase, not buried.
Apply high-privacy defaults for child accounts
Including visibility, communications and data sharing.

Where this usually goes wrong

No age gate in a game children obviously play

The regulator’s test is whether the service is likely to be accessed by children, not whether you intended it.

Anti-cheat described in one vague line

It collects more deeply than anything else in the product and deserves a paragraph of its own.

Chat logs retained indefinitely

Moderation is a valid purpose with a finite useful life.

Behavioural advertising to under-age players

Restricted or prohibited under COPPA, the design code and several other regimes.

Loot box odds undisclosed

Increasingly a legal requirement rather than a platform courtesy.

High-privacy defaults not applied

The design code expects them for children, and defaults are the first thing tested.

Frequently asked questions

Does my game need an age gate?

If it is likely to be accessed by children, yes - and that is the regulator’s test rather than your intended audience. Thresholds differ by market, so a single global number will be wrong somewhere.

How should I disclose anti-cheat?

In its own section, describing what it reads from the device, when it runs, what leaves the machine and how long it is kept. It is the deepest collection in most games and a one-line mention is not adequate.

Can I show ads in a free-to-play game?

Contextual advertising generally yes; behavioural advertising to players who may be children is restricted or prohibited under COPPA, the Age Appropriate Design Code and other regimes.

Do I have to publish loot box odds?

In a growing number of jurisdictions and on several platforms, yes. Even where not strictly required, undisclosed odds attract consumer protection attention.

Do I need an acceptable use policy separate from my terms?

A separate AUP is easier to enforce and easier to update. It also gives moderation staff and automated systems a single reference to cite, which matters when a suspension is challenged.

Does an AUP help with platform liability?

It is part of the picture. Intermediary liability protections generally depend on acting on notice, and both the EU Digital Services Act and the UK Online Safety Act expect published rules, a reporting route and an appeals process.

How specific should prohibited-use lists be?

Specific enough that a moderator can apply it consistently, with a residual catch-all. Lists that are only catch-alls get challenged; lists that are only specific leave gaps.