Italy’s antitrust authority, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM), has launched actions against Microsoft-owned video game companies including Activision Blizzard over their use of in-game currencies, as part of a broader EU transparency campaign.

The new actions are to be led by the AGCM, which said it would work with equivalent agencies in Norway and Denmark to determine whether the companies had committed a “widespread infringement” of EU consumer protection rules affecting consumers in at least three EU member states.

The AGCM didn’t indicate the other Microsoft gaming companies that were targeted.

Transparency probes

The Italian regulator last December began a complementary national action into Microsoft-owned companies involving the games and Call of Duty Mobile.

Late last month, the European Commission said it would take action against nine video game companies over their digital currencies and pricing of in-game items, saying the companies’ practices hadn’t come into line with guidance on transparency and fairness that was released in March 2025.

The companies, which include Activision Blizzard UK, Mojang, Riot Games, Supercell and Ubisoft EMEA, engaged in practices such as exhorting children to purchase in-game items, “despite an explicit prohibition in EU consumer protection law”, the EU’s Consumer Protection Cooperation Network said last month.

“Consumers across Europe should be able to play and interact with video games without being tricked into spending more money or time on video games than they want,” the organisation stated.

The European Commission has accused companies of making it difficult for players to maintain an awareness of how much they are spending in real terms by failing to display real-world prices or forcing users to engage in currency conversions.