Video game law

The regulatory dilemmas related to the intermediary service providers of the gaming industry in the European Union

Abstract

Video games are interactive software that offer opportunity for recreation for several people in every region of the world. Statistical data shows that the revenues of the video game industry are constantly growing; the global gaming market generated 159.3 billion USD in revenue in 2020. The regulatory environment of video games is very complex and consists of rules of several different areas of law. On one hand the software-specific rules of copyright laws shall be applied to these products, while on the other hand video games are sui generis media with audiovisual elements and as such there are some specific rules to be applied that come from media law – such as the age-rating of video games to protect minors. These specificities of video games are reflected in the regulation of those intermediary service providers that offer services connected to video games. These intermediaries are new stakeholders in the gaming industry; therefore the legal systems sometimes lack the necessary instruments to tackle those legal challenges that emerge in relation to these services. The aim of the study is to introduce the complex regulatory landscape of video games, highlighting those issues that have emerged recently regarding these products and the intermediary services that are closely linked to them.