Is it possible to pinch off a pop at “snack size” like this suggests? I’m asking because I have this exact same problem with my children at home. I don’t know how they do it. But surely it’s not something they can choose to do or not? Is it?

This is all demonstrably false and goes against the available evidence.

Here’s a good Lancet study that investigates ultra processed foods by sub-type and looks at the health impact. Those who are meat and sugary drinks with artificial sweeteners had the highest incidences of cancer. Those who ate high amounts of ultra process plant based alternatives had a lower cancer rate than the base population. Believe what you want, but when it comes to cancer, eating ultra processed plant based products is better than meat.

If it’s f2p I’m assuming there’s going to be microtransactions to generate the income. Cosmetic microtransactions are conspicuous consumption and the ‘value’ comes from others seeing the items. Like skins on Fortnite, kids love showing them off to each other and that’s what generates the frenzy that means they buy them. Add in a few other dark patterns (limited time sales, dodgy conversion into fake money, loot boxes, etc) and you’ve got a game that uses kids to extract massive amounts of money from their parents for nothing.

Unfortunately, this feels like the dominant model for a lot of big studio games now. I’m sure the next bit disappointment will be GTA. Although, interestingly FIFA / EA FC sounds like they’re starting to realise that this might not be enough and are putting more effort into offline gameplay.