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EU consumer authorities have announced coordinated action involving nine gaming companies over in-game purchase practices, including how virtual currencies and bundles show prices. Separately, they are examining Activision Blizzard UK’s Diablo Immortal and Call of Duty Mobile for a broader set of concerns that explicitly includes potentially addictive design. These are ongoing inquiries and dialogues, not final findings or announced fines.
Which gaming companies and games are involved?
The CPC Network and national consumer authorities announced the nine-company action on 30 September–1 October 2026. The Irish Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) says it followed industry discussions that did not produce satisfactory solutions and a large market check.
| Company named by the CCPC | Game listed | Scope of the nine-company action |
|---|---|---|
| Crytek | Hunt: Showdown 1896 | The coordinated action examines virtual-currency pricing and sales practices, purchase information, terms and consumer safeguards. The CCPC announcement does not say that each company is suspected of every listed practice. |
| InnoGames | Forge of Empires | |
| King.com Operations (Malta) | Candy Crush Saga | |
| Mojang | Minecraft | |
| Plarium Europe | Mech Arena | |
| PLR Worldwide Sales | Gardenscapes | |
| Riot Games | Valorant | |
| Supercell | Clash of Clans | |
| Ubisoft | For Honor |
So, yes: Minecraft, Candy Crush Saga and Clash of Clans are among the games listed in the nine-company action. Being named does not mean a regulator has already found that a game or company broke consumer law.
What are regulators checking in the nine-company action?
The central question is whether players can understand what they are spending in ordinary money before buying in-game currency or using it to make a purchase. Virtual currency can make a price less immediately legible when a player must convert between real money and game units, or when a bundle includes more currency than the intended purchase requires.
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- Visible real-world prices: whether the cost of an item or currency is clear in money, not just in an in-game unit.
- Currency exchanges and bundles: whether conversion steps or package sizes obscure the effective price or encourage a player to buy more currency than needed.
- Information before purchase: whether consumers receive clear information before committing to a transaction.
- Terms and withdrawal rights: whether contractual terms are fair and consumers are told about the 14-day right to withdraw, including in relation to unused virtual currency.
- Consumer safeguards: whether protections adequately address children and other vulnerable consumers.
These concerns fit the European Commission’s March 2025 consumer-protection principles for games: transparent prices and pre-contract information, no practices that hide costs or force virtual-currency purchases, respect for withdrawal rights, and attention to consumer vulnerability, especially among children.
What does “addictive design” mean in the Activision review?
The separate CPC engagement concerns Activision Blizzard UK Ltd, part of Microsoft, and its games Diablo Immortal and Call of Duty Mobile. The CCPC says the engagement examines potentially addictive design along with several other consumer issues. Its announcement does not define a specific design feature as addictive or establish that either game has harmed players.
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In this context, “addictive design” is a concern under examination, not a conclusion that the games are clinically addictive or that a legal violation has been proved. The announcement groups it with scrutiny of virtual-currency sales, personal-data collection, parental-control settings, direct marketing to children, information provided before a contract, and unilateral blocking of gaming accounts. It does not assign every concern to a particular game or identify a finding against the company.
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| Point of comparison | Nine-company action | Activision Blizzard UK engagement |
|---|---|---|
| Companies and games | Nine named companies and nine listed games, including Minecraft, Candy Crush Saga and Clash of Clans. | Activision Blizzard UK Ltd, part of Microsoft; Diablo Immortal and Call of Duty Mobile. |
| Practices identified in the announcement | Real-world price visibility, virtual-currency exchanges and bundles, purchase information, terms, withdrawal rights and safeguards for children and vulnerable consumers. | Virtual-currency sales, potentially addictive design, personal-data collection, parental controls, marketing to children, pre-contract information and account blocking. |
| Process and status | Coordinated CPC action following industry talks and a market check; the CCPC describes potential breaches, not a final decision. | A separate CPC engagement described by the CCPC as ongoing; no final decision is announced. |
That distinction matters: the “addictive” concern is explicitly part of the Activision engagement described by the CCPC, while the nine-company action is framed around virtual-currency and related consumer-purchase practices. The announcements do not support saying that all nine companies were targeted for addictive design.
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Did the EU fine Activision or Microsoft?
No fine or final infringement decision is announced in the CCPC’s 2026 release. It describes coordinated investigations and dialogues under the Consumer Protection Cooperation framework, including the ongoing Activision engagement. If concerns remain, national authorities may consider enforcement measures; that is a possible next step, not a penalty already imposed.
Why did consumer groups get involved?
BEUC says its network and 22 member organisations from 17 countries submitted a complaint in September 2024. BEUC Director General Agustín Reyna put the pricing concern plainly: “No one should need a calculator to figure out what they are spending in a video game.” The complaint is part of the context for regulatory scrutiny; it is not itself a regulator’s finding.
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What earlier EU action illustrates the child-protection concerns?
The Commission’s 2025 action concerning Star Stable Online identified concerns including direct appeals urging children to buy, time-limited pressure tactics, unclear currency information that could lead to overspending, and influencer marketing whose commercial nature was not clearly disclosed. Those points illustrate how consumer authorities have framed child-harm concerns in a separate case; they should not be treated as findings about the games in the 2026 announcements.
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