On September 12, 2024, the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) announced that it, along with 22 of its members from 17 countries, have filed a complaint to the European Commission and the network of consumer protection authorities (CPC-Network) against leading video game companies for engaging in deceptive practices in relation to in-game purchases. The companies in question include Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Mojang Studios, Roblox Corporation, Supercell, and Ubisoft. As part of the complaint, the BEUC published a report titled 'Game over: Consumers fight for fairer in-game purchases,' which includes the legal assessments made.

In addition to not complying with EU rules on unfair commercial practices, the BEUC claims, in Section 5.3. of the Report, that the abovementioned companies collect consumers' personal data on the basis of privacy policies that use vague and/or confusing terms that are likely to mislead consumers. The BEUC states that this may constitute a breach of Articles 5(a), 5(b), and 6(a) in accordance with 4(11) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Furthermore, the BEUC claims that the abovementioned companies do not properly inform consumers about the exact purposes of data collection and subsequent processing.

You can read the BEUC press release here, the Report here, the Norwegian Consumer Council (Forbrukerrådet) press release, only available in Norwegian, here, and the Swedish Consumers' Association press release, only available in Swedish, here.

Update: September 13, 2024

Adiconsum publishes press release on BEUC complaint

On September 12, 2024, the Consumers and Environment Protection Association of Italy (Adiconsum) published a press release announcing that it sent a complaint alongside the BEUC on unfair commercial practices implemented by major video game companies. Additionally, Adiconsum included an Italian summary of the Forbrukerrådet report 'Getting played - The true cost of virtual currency.' 

You can read the press release, only available in Italian, here. 

Update: September 16, 2024

Denmark: Forbrugerrådet Tænk publishes press release on BEUC complaint

On September 12, 2024, the Danish Consumer Council (Forbrugerrådet Tænk) published a press release announcing its collaboration with the BEUC. Forbrugerrådet Tænk stated that it also reported the following games to the Consumer Ombudsman for breaches of the Danish Marketing Act: 

• Call of Duty: Mobile; 
• Candy Crush;
• Counter-Strike 2;
• FIFA: Mobile football;
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery;
• Hayday;
• League of Legends;
• Overwatch 2;
• PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds: Mobile; and
• Pokemon Go.

You can read the press release, only available in Danish, here.