Spending limits, platform by platform

Why this is worth five minutes

Most of the games on the chart sell something inside: a pass, a currency, a cosmetic. The pricing is designed to be frictionless, which is fine for an adult who has decided to spend and a problem for anyone who hasn't. Platform limits put the friction back where you want it. They are free, they work across every game on that platform, and they do not need the game's cooperation.

In the UK the ICO Children's code requires services likely to be used by under-18s to avoid nudging them towards purchases, and the industry body Ukie publishes its own guidance on in-game purchases. Neither replaces the settings below.

Steam

• Steam Families lets an adult account create or link a child account. Purchases on a child account are held until a family adult approves them from their own device.
• Family View puts a PIN on the store, the community and specific games on a shared account.
• The Steam Wallet can be topped up in fixed amounts by gift card, which acts as a hard ceiling: when it is empty, it is empty.
• Steam has no monthly cap for an adult account. The wallet and your bank's controls are the limit.

PlayStation

• The family manager creates child accounts and sets a monthly spending limit per child, from £0 upwards, through the console or the PlayStation app.
• Purchases require the family manager's payment method; the child cannot add their own.
• Age ratings, chat and play time are controlled in the same menu, so it is worth setting them together.
• Adult accounts can require a password at every checkout, which stops accidental purchases from a saved card.

Xbox

• Microsoft family groups allow Ask to buy: a child's purchase sends an approval request to the organiser's phone.
• Organisers can add money to a child's account as a fixed allowance without sharing a card at all.
• Spending applies across Xbox consoles, Windows and the Xbox app, including Minecraft Marketplace purchases.
• Purchases on an adult account can be locked behind a password or PIN under sign-in and security settings.

Nintendo

• The Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app manages play time and age ratings for the console.
• Spending is controlled at account level: a child account linked to a parent's Nintendo Account can have eShop purchases restricted or blocked from the parent's account settings on the web.
• Nintendo refunds almost nothing, so prevention matters more here than anywhere else.

iPhone, iPad and Android

• Apple Family Sharing with Ask to Buy routes every App Store purchase and in-app purchase from a child's device to a parent for approval.
• Google Family Link does the same on Android, and can require approval for all purchases or only paid ones.
• Both platforms also let an adult require a password or biometric check for every purchase, including in-app purchases, on their own device.
• Genshin Impact on a phone sells through the App Store or Google Play, so these controls cover it. On PC it does not.

Publishers with no built-in limit

Riot (League of Legends, Valorant), HoYoverse (Genshin Impact on PC), Digital Extremes (Warframe) and Grinding Gear Games (Path of Exile) sell through their own launchers or web stores. None of them offers a spending cap on an adult account. What works instead:

• Pay only by prepaid code. Riot, Google Play and App Store codes are sold in UK shops; the code is the limit.
• Use your bank's card controls. Most UK current accounts let you freeze the card, block online purchases, or set a spending notification in the app.
• Do not save a card in the launcher. Re-entering a card number is the cheapest friction there is.
• Read the odds page before any randomised purchase. Genshin Impact publishes the draw rates inside the game; the chart entry quotes them.

For adults who want a limit on themselves

You do not need a child account to want a ceiling. Two habits cover most of it: top up with fixed gift-card amounts rather than a saved card, and turn on purchase notifications in your banking app so every payment is visible the moment it happens. If a game makes you feel rushed to buy, that feeling is the game's design, not a deadline. The pace yourself page has more.