UK trade body TIGA has called on the European Commission to adopt the Office of Fair Trade's principles regarding in-app purchases.

Laid out in late September by the OFT, the eight proposed principles seek to protect children - and their parents - from aggressively courting players into making IAPs or tricking them through misleading practices.

Speaking on the call for the European Commission to adopt the OFT's principles, TIGA CEO Dr. Richard Wilson stressed the importance shielding consumers.

"TIGA welcomed the OFT's principles for online and app-based games because they should help to protect consumers and clarify the responsibilities of games businesses,"

"TIGA hopes that the EU Commission's investigation into F2P games will result in the adoption of the OFT's principles by consumer regulators throughout the EU."

Child's play

Wilson also made it clear that TIGA was not opposing free-to-play as a business model.

"F2P can be of great value to consumers and developers alike. This is because the F2P business model allows consumers to play extremely high quality games entirely free before actually spending any money.

"A report published by TIGA in 2013 showed that typically 95 per cent of consumers playing a F2P game don't spend any money at all."

"However, it is important that the game industry adheres to high standards."

TIGA's call to the European Commission comes just days after the Commission invited Apple and Google to take part in a consultation over the potentially misleading use of 'free' in free-to-play games.

The OFT's eight principles come into effect on 1 April.