Antitrust: Commission fines Valve and five publishers of PC video games 7.8 million for geo-blocking practices20 January 2021
Original articleThe European Commission has fined Valve, owner of the online PC gaming platform Steam, and the five publishers Bandai Namco, Capcom, Focus Home, Koch Media and ZeniMax 7.8 million for breaching EU antitrust rules.
Valve and the publishers restricted cross-border sales of certain PC video games on the basis of the geographical location of users within the European Economic Area (EEA'), entering into, the so called geo-blocking practices. The fines for the publishers, totalling over 6 million, were reduced due to the companies' cooperation with the Commission. Valve chose not to cooperate with the Commission and was fined over 1.6 million.
Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: More than 50% of all Europeans play video games. The videogame industry in Europe is thriving and it is now worth over 17 billion. Today's sanctions against the geo-blocking practices of Valve and five PC video game publishers serve as a reminder that under EU competition law, companies are prohibited from contractually restricting...
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