EU fines video game firms for blocking cross-border sales

Steam activation keys prevented games from working outside the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the commission said. — AFP Relaxnews

LONDON: The European Union has issued fines to a US video game platform and five game makers after they blocked players from buying cheaper copies of the games in other countries in the bloc.

The EU’s executive Commission said Wednesday that it fined Valve Corp, which owns the Steam online PC game distribution platform, and the game makers a total of €7.8mil (RM38.23mil) because they restricted cross-border sales in violation of the bloc’s antitrust rules.