Ad description
a. The cover of the Argos Autumn/Winter 2025 Gamer brochure, seen in December 2025, featured images of the video games EA Sports FC 26, Borderlands 4 and Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.
b. The 2025 Argos Christmas Gift Guide, also seen in December 2025, featured a page with an image of the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. Text underneath the image stated, “1. Xbox Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 COMING SOON”.
Issue
The complainant, an academic researcher in game regulation, who understood that the featured games contained in-game purchases and/or random-item purchasing (loot boxes), challenged whether the ads were misleading because they omitted material information.
Response
Argos Ltd t/a Argos said they understood the requirement to communicate the presence of in-game purchases and random-item purchases in line with ASA guidance, and they worked to ensure that information was clearly communicated to customers in their advertising. They endeavoured to include those disclosures and provided examples from ad (a) where such information was included, such as for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, FC26 and Hitman: World of Assassination.
Regarding ad (a), Argos said that because the games were featured on a cover page, no price information was included and that they did not generally include disclaimers or any form of terms and conditions on that page. They said that further details on the specific products were instead contained within the brochure itself.
Whilst ad (a) included the in-game purchase information for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, unfortunately, the disclosure was inadvertently omitted from ad (b). That oversight had been raised with the relevant internal team, who were taking further steps to ensure that information was shown wherever needed in future materials.
Assessment
Upheld in part
CAP Guidance stated that the presence of in-game purchasing may be material to a consumer’s decision to purchase or download a game, particularly to those with specific vulnerabilities. As such, marketers should ensure that advertising for the game made clear that it contained in-game purchasing and, if relevant, that it included random-item purchasing. It stated that, as a rule of thumb, whilst that information did not need to be especially prominent, it should be easily accessible by consumers and straightforward to find. Mention of random-item purchasing should be immediately next to (or part of) information about in-game purchasing more generally.
On its front cover, ad (a) featured images of EA Sports FC 26, Borderlands 4 and Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, which we understood contained random-item purchasing, or for Borderlands 4 in-game purchases. However, that page did not include any disclosure about in-game purchases or random-item purchasing.
We considered, in context, and particularly where the cover included only the names and images of the games and no price or other product detail, that consumers were likely to understand the front cover of a brochure of that type to be primarily a signpost to content inside the brochure. As such, we considered consumers who were interested in the games would likely seek out the relevant page relating to the game within the brochure before taking a transactional decision relating to purchase. In this case, the information relating to in-game and random-item purchases appeared on the relevant inside page of ad (a).
Because the ad appeared as the cover of a brochure and functioned primarily to draw attention to products featured within it, we considered the absence of information relating to in-game purchases and random-item purchasing from the brochure cover itself was unlikely to materially mislead consumers.
In relation to ad (b), a page inside the gift guide featured an image of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 shown as available to purchase at Argos “SOON”. We understood that this game did not feature random-item purchases. However, it did include in-game purchases, and the ad did not include information to make that clear. We welcomed Argos’s engagement with the CAP Code and guidance. However, we considered that the absence of that information meant consumers were not given material information they needed to make an informed decision in relation to the product.
For the reasons given, we concluded that ad (a) did not misleadingly omit material information but that ad (b) was likely to materially mislead consumers.
We investigated ad (a) under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising), but did not find it in breach.
Ad (b) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising).
Action
Ad (b) must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Argos Ltd t/a Argos to ensure their ads disclosed the presence of in-game purchases, including random-item purchases (loot boxes).
