The European Union has begun taking action against Activision and Ubisoft over their monetization practices, Kotaku reports. The move puts two of the industry's largest publishers under formal scrutiny on the same issue: how they design and sell in-game spending.

Details of the specific mechanisms under review remain limited at this stage. But the direction is clear. Brussels is looking at how publishers structure purchases inside their games — the systems that drive recurring revenue across blockbuster titles.

What does this change for publishers?

For Activision and Ubisoft, the immediate consequence is regulatory attention at EU level. That carries weight. The European Commission has a track record of extracting concessions from large technology and entertainment companies, and monetization design sits squarely in its consumer-protection remit.

For the wider industry, it signals that in-game economies — loot boxes, virtual currency, battle passes and similar mechanics — are no longer a fringe policy topic in Europe. Publishers operating live-service games across the EU should expect growing pressure to justify how these systems work, and what players are actually buying.

Why these two companies?

Activision and Ubisoft both run heavily monetized franchises with large European player bases. Both publishers have built business models that depend on sustained in-game spending rather than one-time purchases.

Regulators have spent years circling this territory. Belgium banned loot boxes in 2018. The Netherlands has pursued publishers in court over similar mechanics. EU-level action against named publishers would escalate that pattern from national enforcement to something broader.

What happens next?

The scope and formal status of the EU's action — whether it opens proceedings, requests information, or applies consumer-protection rules directly — will determine how serious this becomes. Watch for the Commission's next procedural step, and for any response from either publisher. If Brussels demands changes to how these games sell their content, the cost will land on every studio running a similar model in Europe.