Offer-wall / cross-promotion redirection
Dangling an in-game reward for going to another app or game and spending money or time there, confirmed by a third-party tracker.
- Code
- I9
- Category
- Informational / interface
- Severity
- High
- Evidence
- ModerateChildren's-app advertising harms (Radesky); named explicitly in the Game-check report.
- Purpose served
- Serves businessPrimarily serves the provider's revenue, retention, or data — the most suspect.
- Mechanism family
- Forced action
- Platforms
- Mobile / F2P
- Modes
- ExploitativeCoercive
- Tags
- offer wallcross promotiondata trackingadvertisingserves businesscommercialized to childrenlow transparencyno meaningful opt outconsent underminedmonetary pressuredata pressureaccess pressurevulnerability exploitation
- Also known as
- offerwall, incentivised cross-promo
How it works
An “offer wall” sends the player to a secondary product to install, play, or purchase; an intermediary SDK verifies completion and grants premium currency in the original game.
Why it can be harmful
It funnels players into third-party spending and time with opaque data-sharing they rarely understand, and is especially exploitative of children chasing the reward.
Examples in the wild
- “Earn free gems” offer walls
- Install-and-spend game cross-promotions
- Rewards for watching external streams
Illustrative genre examples to aid recognition — not allegations about specific titles.
References
- Radesky, J.; Hiniker, A.; McLaren, C.; Akgun, E., et al. (2022). Prevalence and characteristics of manipulative design in mobile applications used by children. JAMA Network Open. doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.17641 · citing patterns
- van Rooij, A. J.; Birk, M. V.; van der Hof, S.; Oostenbach, K., et al. (2025). Game-check: Development, application and visualization of a classification system for behavioral design in games. Trimbos Institute, Eindhoven University of Technology & Leiden University (for the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations). osf.io/5qzda/ · citing patterns
Related patterns
Forced registration / data disclosure
Access to play, rewards, or social features is made conditional on creating an account, linking an identity, or sharing unnecessary personal or contact data.
Language inaccessibility / complex copy
Important purchase, privacy, odds, or consent information is presented in language the player cannot reasonably understand.
Predatory / forced advertising
Unskippable or rewarded ads — sometimes disguised as content — are bundled into progression.
Personalised spend-optimisation
Silently using a player's behavioural data to tune offers, prices, odds, difficulty, or matchmaking to maximise that individual's spending.
Comparison prevention
Making it hard to compare prices, odds, or options so players can't judge value.
Disguised ads / content
Ads are styled as gameplay or rewards so the player cannot tell promotion from play.