Fri handel af alskens varer indenfor EU er en af de kernedele som unionen imellem medlemslandene er bygget på, og netop af denne grund har Europakomissionen annonceret, at de vil undersøge Steam og tjenestens praksisser. Undersøgelsen drejer sig hovedsageligt om aktiveringsnøgler der angiveligvis kun virker i visse regioner og lande.
"The investigation focuses on whether the agreements in question require or have required the use of activation keys for the purpose of geo-blocking. In particular, an "activation key" can grant access to a purchased game only to consumers in a particular EU Member State (for example the Czech Republic or Poland). This may amount to a breach of EU competition rules by reducing cross-border competition as a result of restricting so-called "parallel trade" within the Single Market and preventing consumers from buying cheaper games that may be available in other Member States."
Europakomissionen undersøger desuden fem spiludgivere, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Focus Home, Koch Media og ZeniMax, som led i den samlede sag.