Border Patrol
Following the European Commission’s investigation, a selection of publishers has received a combined fine of 7.8 million euros (or approximately $ 9.4 million) following allegations of geo-blocking practices.
In an official Commission resolution, it was decided Capcom, Bandai Namco, ZeniMax, Koch Media, Focus Home Interactive and the owner of Steam Valve breached antitrust laws by blocking Steam activation keys for more than 100 titles among 2010 and 2015. The titles in question became unusable outside the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, thus breaching the commission’s “single market” policies.
“These trade practices have denied European consumers the benefits of the EU’s digital single market for shopping between member states to find the most suitable offer,” the Commission’s official findings state. “The Commission has concluded that the illegal practices of Valve and the five publishers partitioned the EEA market in breach of EU antitrust rules.”
The fines for each publisher were adjusted based on the cooperation received from each company. Most of the designated editors saw their sentence reduced. Valve, which apparently did not cooperate with the investigation, was fined 1.6 million euros (approximately $ 2.9 million). Since then, Valve has told Eurogamer that it does did cooperate with the Commission and intends to appeal against the resolution. Focus Home Interactive received the harshest sentence, weighing 2.8 million euros (approximately $ 3.4 million) with a reduction.
“More than 50% of all Europeans play video games,” said European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager. “The video game industry in Europe is thriving and is now worth more than € 17 billion. The current sanctions against Valve’s ‘geo-blocking’ practices and five PC video game publishers serve to remind us that, according to competition from the EU, companies are prohibited from contractually restricting cross-border sales. These practices deprive European consumers of the advantages of the EU’s digital single market and the opportunity to seek the most suitable offer in the EU. “
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