The EU is cracking down on sales practices that hurt customers, according to a BBC News report. Six publishers were fined € 7.8 million (£ 6.9 million) for restricting international sales, including Valve, Bandai Namco, Capcom, ZeniMax, Focus Home and Koch Media.
The practice, known as “geo-blocking”, means that games are blocked by region, preventing customers from buying cheaper versions aimed at different countries. Some European countries have lower incomes than others, so generally these countries get cheaper prices. The countries in particular that Valve blocked geographically were 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 its 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.
Its spokesman, Doug Lombardi, told the BBC that only 3% of all games using Steam had region locks and that EU action could cause publishers to “raise prices in less affluent regions” in instead of allowing customers to buy games at cheaper prices.
The EU Competition Commissioner condemned the use of geo-blocking in a statement:
“These practices deprive European consumers of the benefits of the EU’s digital single market and the opportunity to research the most suitable EU offer.”
What do you think of this situation? Do you think EU stocks will benefit customers or lead to higher prices in less wealthy countries? Let us know in the comments.