Italian Competition Authority Investigates Activision Blizzard’s Promotions and Parental Controls

The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) launched two investigations into the Microsoft-owned gaming company Activision Blizzard, alleging that it engaged in “misleading and aggressive practices.”

The investigations focus on the video games “Diablo Immortal” and “Call of Duty Mobile,” and whether some of the company’s practices around these games violate Italy’s consumer protection rules, the regulator said in a Friday (Jan. 16) press release.

Neither Activision Blizzard nor Microsoft immediately replied to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

According to the AGCM press release, the games are described by Activision Blizzard as free but offer in-game purchases.

One of the practices being investigated is a user-interface design that may be deceptive, the regulator said. AGCM pointed to repeated prompts that it said encourage users to engage with the game and its offers more often by urging them not to miss out on rewards or items that are available for a limited time.

“These practices, together with strategies that make it difficult for users to understand the real value of the virtual currency used in the game and the sale of in-game currency in bundles, may influence players as consumers — including minors — leading them to spend significant amounts, sometimes exceeding what is necessary to progress in the game and without being fully aware of the expenditure involved,” AGCM said in the release.

The regulator is also investigating parental control features that automatically default to a what it described as a “lower level of protection for minors” when it comes to in-game purchases, play time, and interaction with other players, according to the release.

AGCM is also looking at how the games obtain consent for the processing of personal data, whether they give players adequate information about their contractual rights, and how the company uses its ability to block gaming accounts unilaterally, causing players to lose the digital content they’ve purchased, per the release.

In another, separate case, it was reported Jan. 5 that AGCM wrapped up an investigation into Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) system DeepSeek after the company agreed to make changes aimed at informing users about potential inaccuracies generated by the technology.

In December, the regulator imposed a fine of 98.6 million euros (about $115.53 million) on Apple and two of its subsidiaries, alleging that the company holds “absolute dominance” in its dealings with third-party developers through the App store and that it abused that position by imposing conditions that may have breached European competition rules.