Consumer authorities to investigate nine video games companies over unfair practices flagged by BEUC

Today, the European Commission and the network of consumer protection authorities (CPCNetwork) announced nine coordinated enforcement actions against leading video games companies for suspected breaches of EU consumer law. The actions follow a complaint filed in 2024 by consumer organisations from the BEUC network.

This is an important step towards protecting consumers, especially young ones, from the manipulative and unfair practices online that encourage excessive spending that BEUC and its member organisations have denounced. These include premium in-game currencies that hide the real cost of items, bundles that push players to buy more currency than needed and unfair terms that deny consumers their rights.

Agustín Reyna, Director General of BEUC, commented: “Today’s decision to act against leading companies in the video game sector can benefit millions of consumers, especially children and teenagers, every time their play their favourite video games. No one should need a calculator to figure out what they are spending in a video game. Real prices must be displayed clearly, and deceptive practices that blur costs or nudge gamers into spending more must end.

“The fact that nine companies behind hugely popular games such as Fortnite, Minecraft and Clash of Clans are targeted shows how widespread unfair practices are online and how urgently they need to be regulated.”

“This decision is only a first step towards protecting consumers from unfair commercial practices that encourage excessive spending. The upcoming EU’s Digital Fairness Act should be used to strengthen the protection for consumers of all ages across the digital economy."

Background
In September 2024, BEUC and 22 member organisations from 17 countries submitted a complaint to EU authorities about the practices of video game companies. BEUC's analysis concluded that the traders had breached EU consumer protection laws and called on authorities to make sure that companies play by the rules and provide consumers with safe gaming environments.

More information about BEUC’s action here.