Supercell boss Ilkka Paananen has hit out at EU proposals that he says could kill European game businesses.
He outlined his concerns in a LinkedIn post this morning, in response to proposals within the EU’s Digital Fairness Act and new guidelines from the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network.
In short, the proposals recommend that how digital currencies are bought and used is more strictly regulated and controlled, in order to protect children and vulnerable players.
But if approved, the policies could “deliver a critical blow” to the EU games business, said Paananen, and “break” how many EU-made free to play games work.
“To dismantle these mechanics in the name of protecting consumers represents a fundamental misunderstanding of how modern digital entertainment works,” wrote Paananen. “The regulations would worsen the player experience without improving protections, and would cause widespread collateral damage to one of Europe’s biggest technology success stories.”
He later adds that the regulations “would cripple the industry and fail to protect players” and called for more meaningful industry dialogue with the EU regulators before any proposals are finalised.
He adds: “The decisions made today will determine whether Europe remains a continent where digital industries thrive or becomes a cautionary tale of how good intentions destroy competitive advantage.”
Paananen is backed by the European Games Developer Federation, which also put out its own statement on the matter today. “In-game currencies play a central role in free-to-play mobile games, which are the foundation of the success achieved by the European mobile games industry,” said the EGDF.
“Significant changes to the operational logic of in-game currencies would seriously weaken the performance of the European mobile games industry and jeopardise its future growth.”
The EU Commission’s final proposals on the matter are expected in Autumn 2026.
