1. Introduction
The terms of this agreement (the “Terms of Service”) govern the relationship between you(“user” or “you”) and VNG GAME STUDIO and/or its affiliates ( “VNG,” “we,” or “us”) regarding your use of VNG GAME STUDIO’s mobile games (“VNG Games”) and related services, including, without limitation, the use of VNG Games.
By downloading VNG Games, accessing and/or using the VNG Service, you accept and agree to be bound by the Terms of Service, the VNG Privacy Policy, and the HIVE Community Standards (collectively, the “VNG Policy”).
VNG may amend, at our discretion, any portion of the VNG Policy at any time by posting or displaying the amended VNG Policy within and/or on VNG Games, VNG branded website. You will be deemed to have accepted such amendments by continuing to use the VNG Service. Except as otherwise stated, any such amendments will be automatically effective after they are initially posted.
By agreeing with the VNG Policy, you represent that you are thirteen (13) years of age or older. If you are between the ages of 13 and 18, you represent that your legal guardian has reviewed and agrees to the VNG Policy.
If you do not agree with any portion of the VNG Policy, your only remedy is to discontinue your use of the VNG Service and cancel the accounts you have made through the VNG Service. If you violate any of the Terms of Service, VNG reserves the right to issue you a warning regarding the violation or immediately terminate or suspend, without notice, any or all accounts you have created using the VNG Service.
2. License
2.1. Ownership of VNG
VNG owns, has licensed, or otherwise has the right to use all of the content and materials that appear in the VNG Service, including, without limitation, designs, text, graphics, pictures, video, information, applications, software, music, sound, other files, a user account, virtual items and virtual currencies, and their selection and arrangement.
By using the VNG Service, you agree that no content or materials that appear VNG Service may be modified, copied, distributed, framed, reproduced, republished, downloaded, scraped, displayed, posted, transmitted, or sold in any form or by any means, in whole or in part, or otherwise exploited, without the express prior written permission of VNG GAME STUDIO.
All other uses of copyrighted content and materials, including any derivative use, requires express prior written permission from VNG. Any reproduction or redistribution of the content and materials not in accordance with the Terms of Service is expressly prohibited and may result in severe civil and criminal penalties. VNG and/or its licensors remain the owners of right, title, and interest, including, but not limited to, copyrights and other intellectual property rights, in and to all content and materials posted on the VNG Service by VNG.
By using the VNG Service, or by accessing any materials posted on the VNG Service by VNG, or derivative works thereof, you acknowledge that you do not acquire any ownership rights.
YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO OWNERSHIP OR OTHER PROPERTY INTEREST IN A GUEST OR HIVE ACCOUNT (COLLECTIVELY, “GAME ACCOUNTS”), AND YOU FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT ALL RIGHTS IN AND TO A GAME ACCOUNT ARE AND SHALL FOREVER BE OWNED BY AND INURE TO THE BENEFIT OF VNG.
2.2. Limited License
VNG hereby grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and revocable limited license to use the VNG Service subject to the terms of the VNG Policy. You understand that virtual items and virtual currencies are provided solely for your entertainment use, and that you have a limited license to use them under the VNG Policy, not the ownership interest in them. Any “virtual currency” balance shown in your account does not constitute a real-world balance or reflect any stored value, but instead constitutes a measurement of the extent of your license.
2.3. Trades of Virtual Items and Virtual Currency
VNG prohibits and does not recognize any purported transfers of virtual items or virtual currency effectuated outside of the VNG Service, or the purported sale, gift or trade in the “real world” of anything that appears or originates in the VNG Service, unless expressly authorized by VNG. Any such transfer or attempted transfer is prohibited and void, and may subject your account to termination.
3. Game Account
3.1. Guest Account
If you use the VNG Service without login to third party social networking service(“SNS), such as Facebook or Google +, we will create and assign to your device an identifier that is similar to an account number (“Guest Account”). We will use the Guest Account information for providing customer support to any users who have not created a HIVE Account.
PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT YOU MAY NOT RECEIVE CUSTOMER SUPPORT OR MAY NOT USE VIRTUAL ITEMS OR VIRTUAL CURRENCY FOR WHICH YOU HAVE PAID IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MOBILE DEVICE WITHOUT LOGIN TO SNS.
3.2. Deleting Your Account
You may freely delete your Account at any time by clicking “Clear Data” button in Game’s Setting menu. You may also request us to delete your Account by contacting our customer support team. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to respond to your request.
4. Fees and Purchase Terms
Some of VNG Games may be described as a “free game” within the description page of App marketplaces. YOU MAY DOWNLOAD AND PLAY SUCH GAMES FREE OF CHARGE, BUT THEY MAY CHARGE REAL MONEY FOR ADDITIONAL GAME CONTENT.
YOU AGREE AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT VNG IS NOT REQUIRED TO PROVIDE A REFUND FOR ANY REASON, AND THAT YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE MONEY OR OTHER COMPENSATION FOR UNUSED VIRTUAL ITEMS WHEN A GAME ACCOUNT IS CLOSED, WHETHER SUCH CLOSURE WAS VOLUNTARY OR INVOLUNTARY.
YOUR PURCHASE OF VIRTUAL CURRENCY IS FINAL AND IS NOT REFUNDABLE, EXCHANGEABLE AND TRANSFERABLE, EXCEPT IN OUR SOLE DISCRETION.
You agree to pay all fees and applicable taxes incurred by you. VNG may revise the pricing for the goods and services it licenses to you through the VNG Service at any time.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if you verify in a reasonable way that you reside in the European Union and you have purchased virtual items or currencies from VNG, you may have the right to withdraw from a purchase within seven (7) calendar days, commencing on the day after the date of purchase (the “Cooling Off Period”). However, you lose your right of withdrawal if the performance of our services begins before the end of the Cooling Off Period. You acknowledge and agree that the performance of our service is deemed to begin once you use any portion of virtual currencies or virtual items in playing VNG Games, which results in losing your right of withdrawal.
5. Your Responsibility in Using Service
You agree that, while using the VNG Service, you will not, under any circumstances:
• send, post, transmit or make available any material or information that may be abusive, threatening obscene, defamatory, libelous, or racially, sexually, religiously, or otherwise objectionable or offensive;
• stalk, harass, threaten, or defraud other VNG Service users or any members of VNG support personnel;
• use, develop, or distribute any robot, spider, unauthorized script, unauthorized scraper or offline reader, or any other cheat, mod, hack or the like, or any unauthorized third-party software designed to modify or interfere with or provide automated access to or use of the VNG Service;
• interfere with or disable any security-related features of the VNG Service, or any part thereof;
• damage, disable, overburden, or impair the VNG Service, including, without limitation, by (a) sending, posting, transmitting or distributing anything that contains a virus, spyware, or other harmful material intended to damage or interfere with the VNG Service or (b) attempting to disrupt servers that relate to the VNG Service;
• make improper use of VNG’s support services, including, without limitation, by submitting false abuse reports;
• misrepresent the source, identity, or content of information sent, posted, transmitted or made available via the VNG Service;
• create a false identity or impersonate another person or entity, including, without limitation, identities falsely indicating that you are a VNG official or representative, message board or community board moderator, another user or host, or that you are a celebrity or public figure;
• decipher, decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer or otherwise attempt to derive any code or underlying ideas or algorithms of any part of the VNG Service;
• modify any part of the VNG Service without VNG’s prior written consent;
• send, post, transmit or make available any content or information that may infringe any person or entity’s intellectual property rights or other property or personal rights, including rights of privacy and publicity;
• buy, sell, trade, or advertise to sell any virtual currency or items or Game Account for commercial purposes;
• send, post, transmit or make available any unsolicited or inappropriate content or other unsolicited or unauthorized commercial or promotional content, information, or communications without VNG’s prior written consent
• develop, distribute, or publicly inform other members of “auto” software programs, “macro” software programs, or other “cheat utility” software programs or applications in violation of the applicable License Agreements;
• exploit, distribute, or publicly inform other members of any game error, miscue, or bug which gives an unintended advantage;
• attempt to collect any personal information about any users or to disclose such information;
• share the password of the HIVE Account or other information that let anyone else access your Game Account.
• access another VNG Service user’s Game Account without permission;
• assist, permit or encourage any party in engaging in any of the activities described in the above listing;
• use the VNG Service in any manner that may violate any applicable laws or regulations or is prohibited by the VNG Policy.
6. Third Party Advertising
VNG may feature advertisements from third parties or provide links on the VNG Service to third party websites or vendors who may invite you to participate in a promotional offer in return for receiving an optional component of the VNG Service and/or benefits (such as virtual items or virtual currency). Any charges or obligations you incur in your dealings with these third parties are your sole responsibility. VNG makes no representation or warranty regarding any content, goods and/or services provided by any third party, and will not be liable for any claim relating to any third party content, goods and/or services. The linked sites are not under the control of VNG and may collect data or solicit personal information from you. VNG is not responsible for their content, business practices or privacy policies, or for the collection, use or disclosure of any information those sites may collect.
7. SMS Notifications, Push Notifications & Local Notifications, E-Mail Notification
We may send local or push notifications to your mobile device to make you aware of game updates, promotional events, new game information and other relevant messages regarding the game service. You can manage push notifications from the “options” or “settings” page within the relevant game. You may also be able to manage them from your device’s settings page for the relevant game.
Also, we may send e-mail to your e-mail account to make you aware of game updates, promotional events, new game information, and other relevant messages regarding the game service. If you do not want receive our e-mail notification, please contact us.
We will not send any SMS notification to your mobile device unless we obtain affirmative express consent from you in compliance with any applicable laws or regulations.
8. Suspension & Termination of VNG Service
VNG MAY LIMIT, SUSPEND, OR TERMINATE YOUR USE OF THE VNG SERVICE AND/OR GAME ACCOUNT IF WE HAVE A REASONABLE BELIEF THAT YOU FAIL TO COMPLY WITH ANY PORTION OF THE VNG POLICY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE HIVE COMMUNITY STANDARDS. For the avoidance of doubt, the HIVE Community Standards apply to all users of the VNG Service, including any users who do not have a HIVE Account.
VNG reserves the right to stop providing or supporting any part of the VNG Service or a particular game at any time either permanently or temporarily, at which point your license to use the VNG Service or a part thereof will be automatically terminated or suspended. In such an event, VNG is not required to provide refunds, benefits or other compensation to users in connection with such discontinued elements of the VNG Service.