EU proposes new digital consumer rules, including limits on game purchases for minors

The European Commission presented its proposed Digital Fairness Act in Brussels on 11 November, setting out new consumer protections for online services and games. The proposal would address practices including manipulative interfaces and in-game purchases by minors, while gaming industry groups say parts of the draft are unclear.

• The proposal would target manipulative design, restrict some personalized advertising and pricing, and make digital subscriptions easier to cancel.
• For games, it would restrict pay-to-win and pay-to-progress purchases offered to minors, as well as loot boxes and default access to virtual currency for under-18s.
• The proposal still needs to be negotiated with other EU institutions; gaming groups say its definitions could sweep in ordinary purchases.

Which online practices the proposal would address

The Act is part of a wider Commission package to update consumer law for digital services. Commissioner Michael McGrath called the package the most significant reform of EU consumer-protection rules in more than 20 years, WIRED reported. He said competition should rest on creativity, innovation and quality rather than practices that exploit consumers, according to POLITICO.

Consumers would also be able to turn off design features such as video autoplay and app streaks, WIRED reported. The Commission says the package is intended to fill gaps between existing EU measures, including the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, rather than duplicate them.

How the proposed rules could affect games

For games, the proposal would prevent companies from earning money through pay-to-win or pay-to-progress microtransactions offered to minors, and would restrict loot boxes, POLITICO reported. The report also said virtual currencies would be switched off by default for under-18s. The measures would apply to a large market: EU video-game spending exceeded €27 billion in 2025, or 17% of the global market, POLITICO reported, citing the European Audiovisual Observatory.

The European Game Developer Federation and Video Games Europe argue that the draft’s definition of pay-to-win and pay-to-progress lacks clarity and could cover almost any in-game purchase. They also say treating every in-game exchange as a purchase could create legal uncertainty and, if the approach remains, leave games unplayable. The groups say existing safeguards such as PEGI age ratings, parental controls and spending tools are not adequately accounted for.

The groups propose that children’s purchases and online communication be switched off by default unless a parent enables them. Their other suggestions include showing prices in real money, refunding unused in-game currency and offering smaller currency top-ups. They say Europe has 8,700 games companies, most of them small studios, and argue the proposal could weaken their competitiveness; that impact is their assessment, not an established outcome.

What it means

The proposal would set new obligations for digital services and game companies, while consumers could gain controls over subscriptions, customer service and some design features. The Commission’s proposal is not yet law and must be negotiated with other EU institutions. The final wording and timetable are not established in the reporting.