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EU Commission Alleges Video-Game Geoblocking

By Simon Taylor
May 01, 2019

The European Commission has charged Valve Corp., the owner of Steam video-game distribution platform, and five video-game publishers with breaking European Union (EU) competition rules through their use of geoblocking, which restricts access to digital content on a territorial basis. The commission alleges that Steam, the biggest online portal for PC games in the world, and the five companies prevented consumers from purchasing video games outside their home country.

“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,” EU antitrust czar Margrethe Vestager said. “Consumers should not be prevented from shopping around between member states to find the best available deal.”

Following an investigation launched in 2017, the commission alleges that Steam's owner Valve and the five video-game publishers — Bandai Co. Ltd., Namco Ltd., Capcom Co. Ltd., Focus Home Interactive, Koch Media and ZeniMax Media Inc. — struck illegal agreements to prevent consumers from buying games outside their national market.

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