EU Commission requires Valve to remove regional restrictions on purchasing games on Steam
Valve and five other gaming publishers are accused of violating antitrust laws in European countries. The European Commission investigation began on February 2, 2017 and to date, if Valve, Capcom, Focus Home, Zenimax, Koch Media and Namco do not abandon regional restrictions on the purchase of games, game publishers risk being subject to sanctions from the European government. The European Commission has spoken out against numerous regional restrictions and geo-blocking, which makes it impossible for users to play games purchased in another country. Thus, publishers not only violate Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, but also deprive gamers of the opportunity to buy games at the best market prices. As you know, in stores of digital distribution of games for each market, taking into account the purchasing power of the population, regional prices are set. For example, Polish residents can buy games at lower prices than UK gamers. It is expected that Valve, in order to avoid speculators, prohibits the British from buying gaming products at Polish prices. Additional problems may arise for a Pole or a Czech who bought games at regional prices and then moved, for example, to Germany - he will lose access to the game library, purchased at a low price. All such restrictions are opposed by the European Union. A good idea, but we will not be surprised that in response to the requirements of the antimonopoly service in all EU countries, Valve will abandon regional prices and will sell games at the same price. USAs, at the moment, have no reason to fear the removal of regional prices on Steam. The Topic of Article: EU Commission requires Valve to remove regional restrictions on purchasing games on Steam. |
