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Valve is one of six video game companies to be investigated for business practices in the EU and, according to a Reuters report, is the only one of six companies to reject the charge which it would have violated antitrust rules.
The investigation in question has been ongoing since 2017, when the European Commission began exploring the online trading practices of several reputable video game companies violating EU competition rules.
In short, the committee was concerned that companies were breaking the rules put in place to avoid restrictions on parallel trade in the EU Member States by geolocally blocking gambling keys. This would essentially prevent players from looking outside. of their country of residence to get better gaming prices, which goes against the regulations.
After a two-year investigation, the commission accused the six people involved of breaking these rules in April.
Sources to Reuters now say the five publishers accused of deliberately blocking sales through Steam (Bandai Namco, Capcom, Home Focus, Koch Media and ZeniMax) are all planning to settle the case This is usually done by admitting wrongdoing in exchange for a 10% reduction in fines.
Valve, the sole holder of the platform among the accused, in the meantime plans to dismiss the charges, according to sources close to the case. Reuters reports that Valve said in April that it had disabled regional locks in Europe in 2015 and that they only applied for 3% of the total Steam library.
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