In-game currencies in the EU: what consumer authorities set out in 2025, and the enforcement that followed

On March 21, 2025, in Brussels, the European Commission announced that the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network, which links the national authorities that enforce EU consumer law, had adopted key principles for game companies that sell in-game virtual currencies. The principles cover currencies that players buy with real money and then spend on digital items or services inside a game, and they set out how existing EU law applies to them. On the same day, the Commission announced a coordinated action by the network over the game Star Stable Online.

Seven principles

The document, prepared under the lead of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets and the Norwegian Consumer Authority, groups seven principles under three headings: price information, contract information and terms, and vulnerable consumers. Each names the EU rules it rests on.

Two points reach beyond pricing. The network says that any game not intended only for adults should expect a significant share of its players to be under 18. It also says that players willing to spend excessive amounts, the so-called whales, may be vulnerable consumers, so games whose business model targets them face a stricter test of fairness. Currencies that can only be earned through play, and cryptocurrencies, are outside the document's scope.

Guidance, not a new law

The principles add no new legal duties. The Commission said they rest on the existing EU consumer directives that already apply to digital content and services, video games included. The document describes itself as non-exhaustive and says that following it is no guarantee of compliance, that departing from it is not automatically unlawful, and that it binds neither national authorities nor the Commission. Only the competent authorities and courts can decide what is legal, it says.

The Star Stable case

The action announced alongside the principles followed a complaint by the Swedish Consumers' Association about Star Stable Online, from Star Stable Entertainment AB. After assessing the company's answers to its questions, the network listed practices that it said violate EU consumer law and could particularly harm children: advertising that urges children to buy in-game currency or items, or to get adults to buy them; time-limited offers used to pressure them; unclear information, not adapted to children, on buying and using currency; and influencers who do not clearly disclose that they are advertising. The company was given a month to reply and propose commitments. The Commission's page on the network's games actions still says the company has time to respond, reports no outcome and publishes no response from the company.

From dialogue to enforcement

The Commission then hosted two workshops, in June and September 2025, at which the authorities and the industry groups Video Games Europe and the European Games Developer Federation discussed the principles, followed by written exchanges on the industry's proposals. In a joint statement dated Brussels, September 30, 2026, the network said it had found indications that a high number of companies had made no substantive changes to their games, neither in response to its guidance nor after the talks.

The same statement announced eleven coordinated actions asking ten companies to bring their virtual-currency practices into line with EU law (our count of the companies listed): Activision Blizzard UK Limited, Crytek GmbH, InnoGames GmbH, King.com Limited, Mojang AB, Plarium Europe S.à r.l., PLR Worldwide Sales Limited, Riot Games Limited, Supercell Oy and Ubisoft EMEA SAS. The games named include Candy Crush Saga, Clash of Clans, Minecraft, Valorant, Call of Duty Mobile and Diablo Immortal. The network says it picked them in a wide market check for their broad reach, availability across devices and varied age ratings. The Commission's page describes the practices at issue as ones that may breach EU consumer law, and says national authorities may take enforcement measures if the concerns are not addressed. The companies' responses are not published on the Commission's page or in the statement.

What could change

For now the principles remain guidance. The Commission's Digital Fairness Act, proposed on November 11, 2026, would go further. According to the Commission's questions and answers, companies would have to show clearly what virtual currency purchases are worth in real money, the currencies would be switched off by default for minors, and the act would ban features that, in the Commission's words, “encourage gambling-like behaviour or put pressure on minors,” including loot boxes and pay-to-win or pay-to-progress features. It is a proposal, not law. The separate EU KIDS Act proposal would add design rules for online games used by minors (see our explainer), and for U.S. game ratings, see our ESRB explainer.