According to a report from BBC News, the EU is cracking down on sales practices that disadvantage customers. Six publishers have been fined € 7.8 million (£ 6.9 million) for restricting cross-border sales, including Valve, Bandai Namco, Capcom, ZeniMax, Focus Home and Koch Media.
The practice, known as “geo-blocking”, means that games are regionally locked, preventing customers from purchasing cheaper versions intended for different countries. Some European countries have lower incomes than others, so in general those countries get cheaper prices. Specifically, the countries where Valve was blocked were the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
Five of the six are said to have cooperated with the EU, reducing their fines, but according to the EU Competition Commission, Valve did not cooperate and their fine was set at € 1.6 million (£ 1.4 million) without reduction. Valve plans to appeal the fine and denies that they refused to cooperate.
Their spokesperson, Doug Lombardi, told the BBC that only 3% of all games using Steam had region locks, and that the EU’s action could potentially cause publishers to “raise prices in less prosperous regions” instead of customers. games at lower prices. .
The EU competition commissioner condemned the use of geo-blocking in a statement:
“Such practices deprive European consumers of the benefits of the EU’s digital single market, and the ability to search for the most appropriate offer in the EU.”
What do you think of this situation? Do you think the EU measures will benefit customers or lead to higher prices in less prosperous countries? Let us know in the comments.