AGCM

PRESS RELEASE

APP GAMES: ANTITRUST LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION FOR UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICE AGAINST GOOGLE, ITUNES, AMAZON AND GAMELOFT

The Authority has decided to launch an investigation against two companies of the Google group, Itunes, Apple’s subsidiary that manages the iTunes stores in Europe, Amazon and Gameloft, a company that develops and publishes video games downloadable from the Internet, on the apps that appear free for consumers and instead require subsequent purchases to be able to continue playing.

The procedure will check whether these practices are unfair: consumers could be led to believe, contrary to the truth, that the game is completely free of charge and in any case would not be put in a position to know in advance what its actual costs were. In addition, there would be lack of information about the tools to exclude or limit the possibility of purchases within the App and the respective method of activation.

Rome, 16 May 2014