Almost two years after filing the charges, the European Union is demanding solutions from Valve and other publishers for geo-blocking games. The European Commission fined Valve, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Focus Home, Koch Media and Bethesda owner ZeniMax for a total of € 7.8 million (more than $ 9.4 million) for restricting access to some Steam games between EU countries. The action violated the competition law that prevents companies from restricting international sales in the Union, officials said.
There were several geographic blocking and “combined practices” agreements between Valve and publishers from September 2010 to October 2015, according to the Commission. Publishers have seen their fines cut by at least 10% for cooperating with regulators, but Valve faces a total penalty (more than € 1.6 million, or more than $ 1.9 million) for fighting the charges.