The Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network has launched action related to nine video games companies, with the aim to strengthen protection of gamers’ rights.
The CPC Network is made up of national consumer law regulators. It is coordinated by the European Commission and acts against consumer law breaches that affect many people and involve more than one member state. It is now following up on the Key Principles on in-game virtual currencies, a set of guidelines which promote transparency and fairness in the use of in-game virtual currencies.
The CPC Network’s actions aim to ensure that its principles are applied, which call for clear real-world pricing, simple pre-purchase information, and ensuring that systems are not designed in a way which pushes players into buying more virtual currency than they need to progress or enjoy the game. The principles also emphasise that gamers must be made aware of their 14-day right to withdraw from contracts, which includes for unused virtual currencies. Video games companies have also been strongly encouraged to build safeguards for children and vulnerable users. The measures sit alongside the CPC Network’s adoption of a Joint Statement that sets out a common approach to protect gamers’ rights across the EU market.
In 2025, the Network started working with the video games industry to ensure alignment with the Key Principles. The CPC Network considered that the dialogue had not brought satisfactory results and therefore proceeded with a market check and found that several games would require further assessment.
As well as this, the CPC Network taking action against Activision Blizzard UK Ltd to ensure compliance with EU consumer law regarding two of its games, Diablo Immortal and Call of Duty Mobile. As part of this, the Network is analysing how virtual currencies are sold, how personal data from users is collected, whether games have addictive designs, standard settings for parental control, direct marketing to children and the display of pre-contractual information in addition to the blocking of gaming accounts.
