The developer believed that the ad appealed to the logic and problem-solving skills required to win during the games.įurthermore, Playrix said that the mini-games shown in the ads were first available to play at the beginning of April 2020, but only on more distant levels. In response, Playrix upheld that the content seen in the ads was included in their games and that it represented part of the gameplay itself. Both ads displayed the text “Not all images represent actual gameplay” at the start of the video.Ĭomplainants of the ads were seven in total. The first, a man floating at the base of a tower filling with water, where above him, two pins held money and lava in place while in the second, the man was shown separated by pins from a dog, lava, and money. Meanwhile, the ad for Gardenscapes similarly included a video which showed two cartoon scenarios. Throughout the video, an on-screen text at the top stated “Help her escape!” The Homescapes ad included a video which showed three cartoon characters of a man, a woman, and a burglar, where pins were being pulled out in an attempt to unite the man and woman without meeting the burglar. The free-to-play games are both tile-matching types with an accompanying storyline for a simulation feature.īoth the Homescapes and Gardenscapes ads featured a problem-solving type of game, which are the mini-games included in the overall app. United Kingdom – The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the UK has banned two paid-for Facebook posts by developer Playrix for two of its video game apps, Homescapes and Gardenscapes, due to several complaints of the ads’ inaccurate representation.

Playrix ad saw gardenscape