Steam, PSN, and Other Digital Storefronts Under UOKiK Investigation

The Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection is investigating digital storefronts for restrictive practices that could be unfair to video game developers, gamers, or the competition.

The president of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny, has already begun preliminary investigations, and provided a quote, saying:

The digital game distribution market is displacing traditional sales. Gamers are increasingly less likely to buy games in boxes but are sourcing digital copies on online sales platforms. At the same time, we see that there may be restrictive practices by major players in this market. That is why I have initiated the preliminary investigation and have had three entrepreneurs inspected. We are currently reviewing the collected evidence

On their website, the organization mentions that Sony and some of the other publisher headquarters in Poland were inspected.

Some of the main things they are looking out for are agreements that would abuse the company's position of power, exploitation, impeding competition, and setting unjustified prices for players.