Valve's Appeal Against EU Antitrust Decision Rejected

The European General Court has upheld the European Commission's ruling that Valve breached EU competition laws. In 2021, Valve and five major video game publishers, including Focus Home Interactive, ZeniMax, Koch Media, Capcom, and Bandai Namco, were collectively fined €7.8 million for engaging in unlawful geo-blocking practices. Valve contested the decision, arguing that it should not be held accountable for the actions of publishers who received free geo-blocked Steam keys and that it did not profit from the sale of titles by third-party vendors. According to Engadget, Valve also claimed that, under copyright law, publishers are entitled to charge varying prices for games in different countries. The EU General Court countered that, while copyright law does protect the rights of content owners to generate revenue through licensing, it does not grant them the right to create artificial price disparities between national markets. The court stated, "However, it does not guarantee them the opportunity to demand the highest possible remuneration or to engage in conduct such as to lead to artificial price differences between the partitioned national markets." Valve has approximately two months to file another appeal against the €1.6 million fine. The European Commission initiated its investigation into Valve's geo-blocking practices in March 2015.