A four-year antitrust investigation into PC games geo-blocking in the European Union by distribution platform Valve and five games publishers has led to fines totalling $9.4 million after the Commission confirmed today that the bloc’s rules had been breached. From a report: The geo-blocking practices investigated since 2017 concerned around 100 PC video games of different genres, including sports, simulation and…
Tag: zenimax
Xbox’s Phil Spencer Hints At Exclusivity Potential For Bethesda Games
In an interview with Kotaku, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said that Microsoft doesn’t need to ship future Bethesda games on PlayStation in order to recoup the $7.5 billion it spent acquiring Bethesda’s parent company, Zenimax Media, last month. Spencer also explained that the deal wasn’t specifically signed to take games away from the platform. Pure Xbox reports: “This deal was not…
Microsoft’s Xbox Expands, Buying ZeniMax Media and Fallout Maker Bethesda For $7.5 Billion
Microsoft’s Xbox team significantly expanded its list of game development studios on Monday, announcing the purchase of ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion in cash. From a report: The entertainment company owns several industry-leading game developers, including Bethesda Softworks, the maker of the post-apocalyptic Fallout games and the fantasy series the Elder Scrolls. It also owns id Software, known for its Doom,…
The EU Is Pissed at Steam for Region-Locking Games
Region-locking—when a publisher restricts the sale of a video game in certain markets—is a fact of life in gaming. Sometimes publishers want to avoid a cultural backlash, other times they don’t want a game to release in a region it’s not localized for. Often, games will have different prices in different regions. Now, the European… Continue reading The EU Is Pissed at Steam for Region-Locking Games