EU Consumer Watchdogs Open Coordinated Action Against Activision, Riot, Ubisoft Over In-Game Currencies

The Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network is the EU’s joint consumer enforcement body, and on September 30, 2026 it opened coordinated actions against 10 video game companies over their use of in-game virtual currencies. Activision Blizzard, Riot Games, Ubisoft, Mojang, Supercell, and King are all on the list. Italy’s competition authority is leading a separate, parallel investigation into Activision Blizzard UK and other Microsoft group entities, giving the probe broader reach into Diablo Immortal and Call of Duty Mobile.

The action follows the network’s March 2025 Key Principles on in-game virtual currencies, a set of guidelines for transparent pricing and fair consumer treatment. Regulators ran talks with the industry through 2025, but the CPC said it found “indications” that a “high number” of companies had not made any substantive changes.

The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) is spearheading the parallel investigation with the consumer protection authorities of Norway and Denmark. The Authority is focused on Activision Blizzard UK and the rest of Microsoft’s gaming business. The Authority already opened national-level investigations into Diablo Immortal and Call of Duty Mobile last December. This new action tests whether Microsoft broke EU consumer law across three or more member states. If yes, that would qualify as a “widespread infringement” under EU Regulation 2017/2394. That is the formal trigger for a coordinated cross-border probe.

The 10 companies on the list:

• Activision Blizzard UK (Diablo Immortal, Call of Duty Mobile) — parallel action led by Italy
• Crytek (Hunt: Showdown 1896)
• InnoGames (Forge of Empires)
• King (Candy Crush Saga)
• Mojang (Minecraft, Mech Arena)
• Plarium (Gardenscapes)
• PLR Worldwide Sales
• Riot Games (Valorant)
• Supercell (Clash of Clans)
• Ubisoft (For Honor)

The complaint is not that soft currencies exist. Soft currencies are in-game denominations like V-Bucks, Diamonds, or Valorant Points that you buy with real money and spend inside a game. The complaint is that soft currencies obscure the real cost of in-game purchases. In its press release, the AGCM said in-game items are typically priced in fictional denominations (platinum, globes, diamonds) that still resolve to real euros, often through layered conversions. Bundled packs, dark patterns, weak parental controls, and account lockouts without recourse all factor in.

Dark patterns are deceptive interface choices designed to steer players into spending. The CPC’s joint statement with the Commission said: “Consumers across Europe should be able to play and interact with video games without being tricked into spending more money or time on video games than they want.” Some video games, the statement added, “directly exhort children to make purchases, despite an explicit prohibition in EU consumer protection law.”

The seven Key Principles the CPC wants enforced:

Michael McGrath, the European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, framed the action in consumer-protection terms. He noted “roughly half of Europeans play video games, making gaming a major part of our digital economy and everyday lives,” and added: “With that reach comes responsibility. The industry must ensure that its games do not expose players, especially children, to harmful or unfair practices.”

The industry is pushing back. Jari-Pekka Kaleva, managing director of the European Game Developer Federation, said it is “unfortunate that the CPC network was not ready to develop further industry proposals that keep it clear and transparent for both businesses and players where the actual financial transaction happens.”

A working example of what the rules want is already live. This month, Epic started letting Fortnite players spend exact amounts of V-Bucks on specific purchases, except on PlayStation, where the change is still held up. That shift is a template publishers will likely copy across their own EU-facing stores before any fines land. The Digital Fairness Act, expected in November, will fold the same requirements into a single instrument. The EU KIDS Act, presented in draft less than two weeks before the CPC action, layers age verification on top.

Our read: This is a slow squeeze on the soft-money model, not a ban. The CPC is leaning on existing EU consumer law rather than waiting on new legislation. The Italian authority’s December 2025 national probe into Microsoft gaming entities is the test case to watch. Its findings will shape how the other nine companies are treated. The Italy-Norway-Denmark coalition is also unusual: most EU enforcement against Big Tech is led by Ireland (the GDPR home) or France. The AGCM taking point signals Rome is willing to drag Microsoft through the slow Article 3(3) process if Redmond drags its feet.

The likely path forward: the EU KIDS Act passes in early 2027 (it was put to Parliament less than two weeks before the CPC action), the Digital Fairness Act lands by November, and publishers start showing euro-equivalent prices inside EU builds by Q2 2027, with the same UI changes typically following in North American stores within six months.

For US players, the practical effect is real. When publishers retool EU-facing price displays to comply, the same UI usually lands in the North American build too. Expect the V-Bucks-and-bundles loop on Call of Duty, Valorant, and Candy Crush to look more like a real-money store within a year. US console pricing is already under pressure, with PS5 and Xbox prices hitting new highs and sales slumping (our recent industry note on that here).

Edited by Kerwin Stewart, Editor-in-Chief · How we report