October 11, 2026: Europe's consumer-protection authorities are pressing major game companies over how they sell virtual currency. In an October 8 update, Italy's competition authority, AGCM, explained its role in the coordinated action involving Activision Blizzard and other Microsoft companies. The question reaches beyond the number beside a gem icon: can players tell what they are spending, and are the surrounding sales tactics fair?
This follows the broader European action announced on September 30. It is an investigation into possible breaches of consumer law, not a finding that every company or game involved has broken the rules.
The price of the item is only half the transaction
The CPC Network's virtual-currency principles, published March 21, 2025, focus on currency bought with real money and then spent on game content. Currency that can only be earned through play falls outside that definition. The principles call for the real-money price to remain visible when a purchase passes through an in-game currency, including exchanges between currencies.
They also object to forcing players to buy more currency than a chosen item requires. Imagine a fictional costume costing 700 tokens when the only pack available contains 1,000 tokens for $10. Its proportional token value is $7, but a player starting from zero must spend $10 to obtain it. The leftover balance is part of the purchase decision, not a reason to ignore the amount leaving the bank account.
That example is ours, not an allegation about a particular game's shop. It illustrates why a clear token price alone does not answer the practical question: how much money must I pay to get this thing?
Minecraft, Valorant and other games are in the wider action
The European Commission's current case overview lists nine new company actions concerning Candy Crush Saga, Clash of Clans, Forge of Empires, For Honor, Gardenscapes, Hunt: Showdown 1896, Mech Arena, Minecraft and Valorant. Authorities have opened dialogue with the companies about commercial practices involving in-game currencies that may breach EU consumer law.
The Microsoft and Activision Blizzard action is separate and already ongoing. The Commission dates its launch to early 2026 and identifies Call of Duty Mobile and Diablo Immortal. That distinction matters: this is not eleven newly announced investigations into eleven publishers.
Italy's investigation goes beyond currency bundles
AGCM says it leads the Microsoft-group action alongside authorities in Norway and Denmark. It connects that work to the national investigations it opened in December 2025, while describing the current inquiry as an assessment of whether a widespread infringement has occurred.
The European Consumer Centre's account of the action identifies several other areas under examination: collection of players' data, potentially addictive design, default parental controls, direct marketing to children, information before a purchase and blocked gaming accounts. These are questions being investigated. They should not be presented as proven conduct by each named game.
For an owner, those issues connect the moment of payment to what happens afterward. An understandable price is useful, but so are understandable terms and a way to challenge lost account access. Our physical-versus-digital ownership guide covers the wider distinction between keeping a copy and relying on a service.
What would count as a meaningful result?
The September 30 joint statement says discussions with the industry have not produced substantive changes across many games. Authorities are choosing coordinated action because these products operate across national borders. The Commission says unresolved concerns could lead to enforcement measures by national authorities; the announcements do not supply a universal shop-redesign deadline or automatic refund for players.
Zypher XP's view is that the useful result would be easy to see on the purchase screen: a clear cash cost, no compulsory surplus balance, and understandable terms before money changes hands. A new warning buried in a menu would do much less to answer the player's question. For now, judge the actual amount needed for a purchase, rather than treating leftover currency as money that must be spent.
Featured photograph: the Piazza Verdi building in Rome housing AGCM and CONSOB, photographed September 16, 2020. Sergio D'Afflitto, CC BY-SA 4.0, full original composition. Both photographs identify the institutions involved; neither depicts the proceedings. Sources checked October 11, 2026.
