European Commission fines Valve, Capcom, Zenimax and others $ 9.4 million over antitrust ruling

Border patrol

Following an investigation by the European Commission, a selection of publishers have been fined a combined 7.8 million euros (or approximately 9.4 million US dollars) on charges of improper conduct geo-blocking.

In an official Commission decision, it was ruled that Capcom, Bandai Namco, ZeniMax, Koch Media, Focus Home Interactive and the owner of Steam Valve had violated antitrust laws by locking down Steam activation keys for more than 100 titles. between 2010 and 2015. The titles in question were rendered unusable outside of Czechia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, thus violating the Commission’s “single market” policies.

“These business practices have deprived European consumers of the benefits of the EU’s digital single market to shop between member states to find the most suitable offer,” state the Commission’s official findings. “The Commission has concluded that the illegal practices of Valve and the five publishers have partitioned the EEA market in violation of EU antitrust rules.”

The fines for each publisher have been adjusted based on the cooperation received from each company. Most of the publishers cited have seen their penalties reduced. Valve – which allegedly did not cooperate with the investigation – was ultimately fined 1.6 million euros (approximately 2.9 million US dollars). Valve has since told Eurogamer that it made cooperates with the Commission and intends to appeal the decision. Focus Home Interactive received the fiercest sanction, weighing in at 2.8 million euros (about $ 3.4 million) even with a discount.

“More than 50% of all Europeans play video games,” said Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Margrethe Vestager. “The video game industry in Europe is thriving and is now worth more than 17 billion euros. Today’s sanctions against the “geo-blocking” practices of Valve and five PC video game publishers are a reminder that under EU competition law, companies are prohibited from contractually restricting sales cross-border. Such practices deprive European consumers of the benefits of the EU’s digital single market and the possibility of seeking the most suitable offer in the EU. “