Zynga Gives Fake Discounts, Invades Players’ Privacy, Suit Says

Zynga Inc. deploys deceptive and invasive marketing practices in order to profit from its mobile game players, a proposed class action alleged.

Two of Zynga’s purportedly free-to-play games are actually designed to maximize profits by pressuring players into in-game purchases and promoting fake discounts, the suit filed May 9 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California said. The Take-Two Interactive Software division also allegedly improperly discloses “the personal identifying information and video viewing histories of users of its many mobile games” in violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act.

Five of the proposed class action’s six ...