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The European Commission is investigating Valve and five other major PC game publishers for alleged infringement of the EU's competition rules.
The group fears that Valve, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Home Focus, Koch Media and ZeniMax have all treated consumers unjustly by blocking geo-blocking games to prevent cross-border sales from other EU countries. .
Although the fact that six large companies are being investigated is a notable newcomer, if the Commission finds sufficient evidence of the infringement, it could punish the offending parties up to 10% of their number. annual world business.
In the current state of affairs, the Commission states that each company has agreed to use region-specific activation keys to deny EU consumers the benefits of the single market. digital, which allows them to tour the EU Member States to find the most attractive offer.
According to the group's preliminary opinion, the six parties entered into bilateral agreements to prevent consumers from buying and using computer video games outside their home country, thereby violating antitrust rules of the EU.
"In a true digital single market, European consumers should have the right to buy and play video games of their choice, regardless of where they live in the EU," Commissioner Margrethe said. Vestager, in charge of competition policy. "Consumers should not be prevented from shopping between Member States to find the best deal available."
Now that the Commission has informed each company of its concerns regarding a Statement of Objections, the six parties will have the opportunity to review the case, respond in writing and request a hearing to present their defense.
As the Commission has no legal deadline to compete with its investigations, the process could take a while, but it is a situation that should be monitored.
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