When a minor makes in-game purchases a parent didn't authorize, U.S. law gives the family unusually strong reversal tools. For a child under 13, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) plus card-issuer unauthorized-transaction rules support undoing the charges; for teens 13–17, state contract law (minors can generally disaffirm contracts they didn't have capacity to make) and the unauthorized-transaction route apply. The minor-refund estimator maps the exact steps by age.
Step one is the platform's own parental-refund / unauthorized-purchase process — submit proof the account is a minor's and that the charges weren't authorized. This is the fastest, account-safe route and most platforms do refund genuine unauthorized minor spend.
Step two, if the platform refuses or the amount is large, is a dispute with your card issuer for the unauthorized transaction. Credit cards get the 60-day FCBA window; debit cards run on a shorter Regulation E timeline, so move fast. The U.S. federal rights page explains both clocks and the "unauthorized" framing issuers expect.
Step three is escalation: the CFPB complaint portal and your state Attorney General consumer office. Document everything — account age, the charges, your communications — because minor-spend disputes are won on clear, dated evidence, not on the fact that it was "a kid."