The Commission says these practices encourage overspending, which is especially dangerous for vulnerable consumers like kids. Violating the rules can lead to fines of up to 6% of global revenue in cases that affect more than two-thirds of the EU population.
“We want the European gaming industry to continue to thrive,” said Michael McGrath, the commissioner for consumer protection, announcing the measures. But competition, McGrath added, should be based “on creativity, innovation, and quality, and not on practices that exploit consumers.”
In a joint statement, the European Game Developer Federation, an association representing EU firms, and Video Games Europe, which includes global juggernauts like Sony and Epic Games, say that the proposed definition of pay-to-win is “fundamentally flawed, lacks clear definitions and would create huge confusion for players and developers alike” since it could cover “any purchase.”
Angry Birds & friends
While Europe has struggled to keep up with the U.S. and China in several tech sectors as AI and social media, the bloc is home to developers of some of the world’s most popular games such as Angry Birds and The Witcher. Video game spending in the bloc topped €27 billion, accounting for 17% of the global market, last year, according to the European Audiovisual Observatory.
The gaming groups argue that the industry already does a good job regulating itself with parental controls and the content rating system PEGI, which the DFA doesn’t take into account.
“Effectively, the DFA moves all decisions from parents and children to the Commission,” they wrote.
The DFA aims to regulate a slew of other industries, cracking down on manipulative practices in online commerce such as addictive design, dynamic pricing and making it difficult to unsubscribe from a digital subscription.