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Ubisoft has apologised to parents aggrieved by Just Dance 2019 "Kids Mode", which has been pushing its subscription service on young players, and promised to rectify the issue "as soon as possible".
Despite assertions of "a safe space for kids to have fun and enjoy dancing", parents like Reddit user darkheartsmd are reporting that the Kids Mode is prompting children to subscribe when selecting certain songs. According to other reports on the Nintendo Switch subreddit, the simplified mode is obscuring which dance selections require an additional charge.
"They need to remove those songs from the list until an adult subscribes in the normal mode," darkheartsmd said. "I just don’t see how they could be spamming my son in the child mode to pay them money".
"This is not just advertising. This is advertising TO A KID. The fact that you chose the kid version of a game inherently means that a KID is going to play it from that point on," added another parent. "A kid does NOT have money. The kid’s parents do. Which means that what you’re doing, by asking for a subscription, is encouraging "pester power" and consumerism. Anyone defending the game here is ok with that? Do you even have a kid in the first place?"
"We realised that the labelling of the content in-game and more especially the difference between what’s included on the cartridge/disc and what’s available in the Just Dance Unlimited streaming service in the Just Dance Kids mode could be confusing for our players," Ubisoft told Eurogamer in a statement. "We never intended to create an uncomfortable situation for parents.
"Just Dance is a game that’s meant to be accessible for everyone, and it’s really important for us to provide a protective and safe environment for all of our players, including families. We are currently working hard on solving this issue as soon as possible."
