European Union: Issued European Commission ruling in investigation into Valve and five video games publishers regarding anti-competitive agreements and concerted practices to restrict cross-border sales

On 20 January 2021, the European Commission issued a ruling in its investigation into Valve and five video games publishers regarding anti-competitive agreements and concerted practices. The European Commission imposed fines totalling EUR 7.8 million on Valve and five publishers, namely Bandai Namco, Capcom, Focus Home, Koch Media, and ZeniMax, for violating EU antitrust regulations. Valve and the game publishers engaged in "geo-blocking" practices, which involved limiting the sale of certain PC video games based on users' geographical locations within the European Economic Area (EEA). The Commission decided that this constituted a partitioning of the EEA market in violation of EU antitrust regulations. The fines for the publishers, amounting to more than EUR 6 million, were reduced due to their cooperation with the Commission. Valve, however, chose not to cooperate and received a fine exceeding EUR 1.6 million.