The European Commission fined Valve and also five game publishers for “geo-blocking” PC games in Europe.
Along with Focus Home, Koch Media and Bethesda, Capcom and Bandai Namco (the companies behind the Street Fighter and Tekken franchises) are having to shell out their share of the $ 9.5 million fine.
In a way, the gaming world is getting smaller and smaller thanks to massive platforms like Valve’s Steam, which allows users to download and stream games. This massive platform is the source of reference for PC games for many worldwide, but some agreements between Valve and the aforementioned publishers impose some illegal restrictions on users.
Geographic blocking is a process that essentially denies players the freedom to buy games in other countries (usually at a discounted price) and play them in another, and is prohibited by EU competition law.
Valve offered Capcom, Bandai and others a territory control function that allows geographic restrictions on the activation of Steam keys for various titles. The European Commission’s Executive Vice President, Margrethe Vestager, made a statement on the matter.
“More than 50% of all Europeans play video games,” she begins. “The video game industry in Europe is thriving and is now worth more than € 17 billion. Current sanctions against the practices of ‘geo-blocking’ from Valve and five PC video game publishers serve as a reminder that under the law EU competition rules, companies are prohibited from contractually restricting cross-border sales. These practices deprive European consumers of the benefits of the EU’s digital single market and the opportunity to seek the most suitable EU offer.
Capcom and the other publishers had their initial fines reduced for agreeing to cooperate with the EC, helping with the investigation and expressly acknowledging violations of EU antitrust rules.
After a reduction of 15% and 10%, respectively, Capcom’s total final fee fell by around $ 480,000, while Bandai fell by around $ 410,000. Valve chose not to cooperate and was fined $ 1.9 million.