Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Valve, and Many More Accused of Violating EU Consumer Laws

Norway has reported several huge names in the gaming industry for breaching European Consumer Law, according to new reports. Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Valve, EA, and more have all been accused of violating EU law with their digital storefronts following a survey that went live back in December. The findings, and accusations, were interesting and could mean big changes ahead.

From the survey, Norway found that Nintendo did not offer consumers a way to cancel pre-orders if done through their eShop. The PlayStation Store, Origin, and Steam were found not adhering to criteria in place to protect consumers regarding their right to withdrawal from a transaction.

The report in question, the NCC Complaint, claimed that Steam, Origin, and the PlayStation Store are in breach for not obtaining “express consent from the consumer and his acknowledgement that he thereby loses his right of withdrawal.”

Based on the above, the Norwegian Consumer Council asks the Consumer Authority to follow up on the following two issues:

• Steam, Origin, and Playstation Store do not gather explicit consent from consumers regarding the loss of the right of withdrawal, but still seem to deny consumers the right of withdrawal.
• Nintendo does not allow consumers to cancel pre-orders after preloading has begun, even though the game is not yet available for use.

The EU right to withdrawal law is there specifically to protect consumers during their digital spending. It offers a way to cancel a purchase and return a purchase during a 14 day period, though Norway is claiming that these companies are not honoring those guidelines. The Director of Digital Services at NCC, Finn Lützow-Holm Myrstad, did not go easy on these companies during a recent statement when he said these practices “shows a lack of clarity by the four powerful gaming platforms.”

With Steam’s refund policy actually in place, and easily accessible, we’re expecting an appeal from Valve shortly. The accusations against them say that the company is not honoring their system in place as well as not offering clear instructions while purchasing, or an ability to make changes.

You can read the full NCC report here.

Update: As per the NCC regarding Microsoft: As per the NCC directly, and the source referenced directly above, “The article from Pressfire demonstrates that there are unclear practices regarding pre-orders in both the Playstation Store and in the Xbox Store. The NCC has not looked further into how these platforms handle the cancellations of pre-orders, but the tests performed by Pressfire seem to indicate that these platforms also have problematic practices regarding pre-orders.”