17 Year Old Spends $25,000 on Monopoly GO

A 17-year-old reportedly spent $25,000 on Monopoly GO in-app purchases. While the game itself is free, many users have found themselves spending a worrying amount on the game to unlock rewards and progress quicker than they can without buying anything. These microtransactions can add up quickly, as the parents of one Monopoly GO player have learned all too well.

The teenager is far from the first person to spend too much money on the app. One user claimed they spent $1,000 in Monopoly GO before finally deleting it. That's already an impressive amount of cash for a free-to-play title, but it's less than 5% of what one unlucky family just discovered they've unwittingly sunk into it.

In a now-deleted post, a Reddit user claimed their 17-year-old step-daughter spent $25,000 on 368 Monopoly GO purchases via the App Store. The stepparent came to Reddit looking for advice on how to handle the issue, but the news doesn't look good for them. Many users in the comments said Monopoly GO's terms of service hold users liable for all purchases, even if they're unintentional. That's not uncommon for freemium games; encouraging microtransactions is part of how Pokemon TCG Pocket made $208 million in revenue in its first month.

In-Game Microtransactions Are an Ongoing Controversy

A teenager spending tens of thousands in Monopoly GO isn't the first time in-game purchases have come under fire. In 2023, an NBA 2K player filed a class-action lawsuit against Take-Two Interactive for its microtransaction model, and the company settled a similar lawsuit the prior year. This particular Monopoly GO case won't likely go to court, but it does add to the long list of instances where people have gotten angry over in-app spending.

It's easy to see why the industry relies on microtransactions. They're remarkably profitable – Diablo 4 players spent over $150 million on them, collectively – and it's easier to encourage someone to spend a few dollars at a time instead of making an equivalent purchase all at once. That same characteristic is why many gamers are less enthusiastic about them. Microtransaction models can feel misleading, causing people to spend much more than they otherwise would.

Unfortunately, this Reddit user may be unable to get their money back. For everyone else, though, it's a good lesson in how easy it is to spend a lot of cash in Monopoly GO and similar games.