Nine Game Firms Investigated Over In-Game Purchases Across EU
Nine online game companies, including the makers of Candy Crush, Minecraft and Clash of Clans, are being investigated by European consumer authorities over the way they sell in-game purchases and virtual currencies.
Who's Under Investigation
The coordinated action, announced on September 30 2026, is being carried out through the European Commission's Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network, which includes Ireland's Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).
The companies named are Crytek GmbH, InnoGames GmbH, King.com Operations (Malta) Limited, Mojang AB, Plarium Europe S.a.r.l., PLR Worldwide Sales Limited, Riot Games Limited, Supercell Oy and Ubisoft EMEA SAS.
What Regulators Are Looking Into
The investigation is examining in-game purchases, in-game virtual currencies, consumer rights when making purchases, transparency around costs, and the fairness of terms and conditions.
Regulators want to establish whether players can easily understand the real-world cost of in-game purchases and virtual currencies, and whether the use of currency exchanges makes prices difficult to follow.
Other strands of the probe examine whether players feel pressured to buy excessive amounts of virtual currency to progress in a game, whether they receive clear information before making a purchase, and whether they are properly informed of their right to withdraw from a contract within 14 days, including unused virtual currency.
CCPC Commission Member Geoffrey Gray said millions of consumers across Europe play video games, many of them children, and that they "should be able to enjoy these games without being misled about costs, pressured into making purchases, or left unclear about their rights."
He added that the investigation is focused on ensuring consumers "are given clear information, treated fairly, and properly protected when spending money in games."
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Background, Next Steps And Advice For Players
The action follows a large-scale market check conducted after the CPC Network opened talks with federations representing the global video games industry last year about transparency and fairness in the use of in-game currencies.
That review identified several games requiring further scrutiny, setting the stage for today's formal investigations.
In-game monetisation has drawn growing regulatory attention across Europe in recent years, with loot boxes and premium currencies increasingly discussed alongside online casino products due to the similar psychological mechanisms that encourage repeat spending.
Consumer groups have long argued that obscuring real-world costs behind gems, coins, or diamonds makes it harder for players, particularly younger ones, to track how much they are actually spending.
The CCPC said it will continue to work alongside its European counterparts to make the online gaming space safer for consumers, and further enforcement steps could follow depending on how the nine companies respond to the investigation. No timeline has yet been given for when the probe is expected to conclude.
Players in Ireland who use any of the affected games are advised to review their account settings and purchase history, and keep records of any in-game spending while the investigation proceeds.
For those looking at regulated real-money alternatives, Ireland's licensed betting sites operate under separate consumer-protection rules overseen by their own regulatory regime.
