The EU Takes Aim at Aggressive Monetization: Riot and Activision Blizzard in the Spotlight

European Union authorities have turned their attention to the way video games take our money. According to Movistar eSports, Brussels has announced a series of coordinated actions against what it describes as aggressive monetization, and the list of companies named includes heavyweights such as Riot Games and Activision Blizzard, along with other companies the source does not identify.

This hits close to home. We are talking about the publishers behind the games that make up a large part of the competitive circuit we live and breathe every week at Underworld Lordz: League of Legends, Valorant, Call of Duty and Overwatch, to name the most obvious ones. If European regulators force changes to how skins, passes and virtual currencies are sold, the impact will not be purely legal: it will affect how we play, how we spend, and how content creators build their relationship with the community.

What you need to know

• There is coordinated action at the European Union level against aggressive monetization in video games, according to the information published by Movistar eSports.
• Riot Games and Activision Blizzard are the two companies explicitly mentioned as targets of these measures.
• They are not the only ones: the source mentions other companies under scrutiny, though without identifying them.
• Concrete details are missing about which practices are being investigated and what consequences could follow, so it is best to wait and see the real scope.
• The situation mainly affects Europe, but regulatory decisions of this kind usually end up shaping publishers' global policies.

What aggressive monetization means and why it is happening now

The term is nothing new in industry debate. When people talk about aggressive monetization, they usually mean mechanics designed to push spending beyond what is reasonable: virtual currencies priced so you always have a little too much or a little too little left over, countdown offers that create urgency, season passes that punish anyone who does not play every day, or random reward systems that look far too much like gambling. For now, we do not know which of these specific practices are at the center of the European action, because the news summary does not specify.

What is clear is the underlying shift. The European Union has been scrutinizing the digital environment in general, and in-game purchases in particular, for some time now, especially when the potential audience includes minors. The fact that we are now hearing about coordinated action, rather than an isolated investigation in a single country, suggests a change in scale. And naming two of the largest publishers in the world indicates this is not about going after small studios with questionable practices, but about targeting the models that set the standard for the entire industry.

Who is really affected

Riot sustains its ecosystem with cosmetics, passes and, increasingly, high-end skin releases that have sparked controversy within its own community. Activision Blizzard, for its part, has one of the most powerful economic engines in the industry in the Call of Duty store and its other titles. Any obligation to rework pricing, offer visibility or virtual currency transparency in European territory would force these companies to decide whether to apply changes only in the EU or across all regions. For our community, spread between the Americas and Europe, that decision could make a real difference: we could end up with two different store experiences depending on where you play from.

For content creators, the issue has another side. A large part of what streamers and YouTubers do revolves around unboxings, collaborations and promotions of paid items. If the rules on how those products are presented get stricter, the way creators talk about them to their audience will change too, and that may demand more clarity in sponsorships and less spectacle around spending.

Our take

Here at the Underworld Lordz editorial team, we think this is necessary news, even if it comes late. For years we have watched the stores in our favorite games go from offering a nice cosmetic to becoming genuine psychological mazes. Competitive players notice it less because we usually know exactly what we are spending on, but the foundation of any community is its casual and younger players, and there the damage is obvious. For a regulator with the weight of the European Union to name names strikes us as, quite simply, fair.

That said, we are skeptical about the outcome. The big publishers have more than enough legal resources to drag out any process and to redesign their systems so they comply with the rules without losing the spirit of the practice. We have seen it with loot boxes: when one mechanism is banned or restricted, another appears with a new name and the same goal. If Brussels does not back these actions with clear criteria and penalties that really hurt, the announcement will remain nothing more than a headline.

We are also asking something of our own scene. Teams, creators and competitive players themselves live in part off that revenue, directly or indirectly, and that has made us far too quiet. Criticizing abusive monetization is not turning against the game we love; it is standing up for a healthy community that still exists ten years from now.

What do you think?

We want to know which side you are on: do you think the European Union is right to step in on how our games are monetized, or do you believe the market should set the limits? Tell us in the team chat or drop by our Discord and start the debate: which monetization practice has made you feel the most ripped off?