According to a report by BBC News, the EU is engaging in sales practices that harm customers. Six publishers were 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 bound, which prohibits customers from buying cheaper versions intended for different countries. Some European countries have lower incomes than others, so the countries usually get cheaper prices. The countries that Valve geo-blocked were mainly the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Five of the six are reported to have cooperated with the EU, leading to a reduction in their fines, but according to the EU Competition Commission, Valve did not cooperate and their fine is € 1.6 million (£ 1 million). 4 million). ) without reduction. Valve plans to appeal the fine, denying that they refused to cooperate.
Their spokesman, Doug Lombardi, told the BBC that only 3% of all games using Steam have a regional lock, and that EU action could lead to publishers ‘raising prices in less affluent regions’ rather than to allow customers to buy games at cheaper prices. .
EU Competition Commissioner condemns the use of geoblocking in a statement:
“Such practices deprive European consumers of the benefits of the digital market in the EU, and the opportunity to seek the most suitable offer in the EU.”
What are your thoughts on this situation? Do you think EU action will benefit customers, or lead to higher prices in less affluent countries? Let us know in the comments.