If adopted, the EU regulation will have huge consequences for loot boxes, virtual currencies, subscription services, pay-to-win mechanics, login rewards, and more

After it was leaked earlier this week, the European Commission has formally presented its draft for the Digital Fairness Act today. If adopted, the Act will have a massive impact on the games sector, particularly where virtual currencies are involved.

Crucially, the Digital Fairness Act will take the form of a European Union Regulation, meaning it will apply directly across all EU member states, without the need for national transposition. It will also partly override existing national laws on unfair commercial practices, and it is designed to complement the EU KIDS Act – which is still working its way through the legislative process, and which will also have a big impact on the games industry.

The first area of relevance for game developers concerns dark patterns in online interfaces (Article 10). These will be prohibited outright. What exactly qualifies as a dark pattern will be defined by a new blacklist, the precise contents of which are not yet known, but which the Commission will be empowered to expand over time.

Article 12 prohibits the targeting of minors based on profiling, which is not a new restriction: equivalent prohibitions already exist under other laws. In a similar vein, Article 13 prohibits personalised pricing based on profiling where it is reasonably likely to cause harm to minors or vulnerable consumers. But the most immediately consequential provisions for games companies relate to paid-for virtual currencies (Article 14).

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