Legal · October 1, 2025

Digital Omnibus: Digital Package for Simplification

Summary

The paper argues that the European Union’s expanding digital regulatory landscape is creating overlapping and burdensome compliance requirements for the video‑games sector, threatening its global competitiveness. It calls for a coordinated “Digital Omnibus” that streamlines rules while preserving consumer protection, emphasizing that simplification must translate into tangible reductions in administrative and legal costs for companies. Key recommendations focus on six regulatory areas. First, greater legal certainty is needed for cross‑border data transfers, with clearer guidance on the use of Standard Contractual Clauses and the impact of their termination. Second, the rollout of the Data Act should include a grace period to accommodate long‑development cycles of consoles and to avoid data‑leak risks. Third, modest adjustments to the GDPR are urged to harmonise enforcement across Member States and to curb abusive data‑subject requests. Fourth, the ePrivacy framework should be modernised but retain the ability of game providers to process communications for safety, harassment prevention and cheating detection. Fifth, the Cyber Resilience Act requires precise definitions of “substantial modification” and practical guidance on CE marking for software distributed via app stores, with a shorter security‑update horizon for consoles. Sixth, the AI Act should be applied proportionately, recognising the low‑risk nature of most video‑games. The scope covers the EU digital market in 2025, targeting video‑game developers, publishers and platform operators. The position draws on industry data—Europe’s video‑games market is valued at €26.8 billion, supports 116 000 jobs, and reaches 54 % of Europeans—and on an OECD study estimating that full data localisation would cut global GDP by 4.5 % and reduce exports by 8.5 %. No primary survey is cited; the analysis is based on sector observations and existing economic research. The overall thrust is to achieve regulatory coherence that safeguards users while enabling the European video‑games industry to thrive internationally.

From the report

POSITION PAPER OCTOBER 2025 Digital Omnibus: Digital Package for Simplification Video Games Europe’s contribution to the European Commission Call for Evidence Video Games Europe welcomes measures aimed at reducing regulatory fragmentation and promoting simplification. Our members make significant investments in creating and producing content, and are faced with increasing digital regulation, potentially leading to competitive disadvantages on a global level. The last decade has seen the introduction of GDPR, DSA, DMA, DCD, the New Deal Omnibus, the Data Act, the Data Governance Act, the AI Act and more. Businesses face overlapping demands across consumer protection, data protection, communications law, and more. This Commission is also proposing to add to those overlapping rules with a Digital Fairness Act. We agree that now is the time to consider how to streamline and rationalise the demands on businesses to ensure that European citizens can be protected, while the European economy remains competitive. Video Games Europe is keen to work with the Commission on potential areas for simplification, including in these laws. It is crucial that any measures aiming at simplification de facto reduce regulatory and administrative burdens for companies. Therefore, we caution against such measures when they bring new convoluted compliance challenges. In this paper, we will reflect on our observations in relation to the main stated objectives in the Call for Evidence document associated with this consultation.

administrative burdens for companies. Therefore, we caution against such measures when they bring new convoluted compliance challenges. In this paper, we will reflect on our observations in relation to the main stated objectives in the Call for Evidence document associated with this consultation. Executive summary • For data transfers outside the EU, full legal certainty is required, in particular where these depend on standard contractual clauses • For the roll-out of the Data Act, a grace period is needed to ensure a better and safer user experience • For the application of the GDPR, adjustments are needed to restore consistency and to reduce burden on companies • For ePrivacy, data processing for online safety reasons needs to continue • For the Cyber Resiliance Act, further guidance is needed, namely on scope and on what constitutes a ‘substantial modification’ • For the implementation of the AI Act, a proportionate application is needed, taking into account the low risk of video games

Data transfers outside the EU: full legal certainty needed 1. Video Games Europe had the opportunity to respond to the Call for Evidence on the Data Union Strategy. Data is not just fundamental for the development and creation of new video game content; it also plays an essential role in ensuring that consumers can access and purchase this content and that they can enjoy a good and frictionless gameplay experience. 2. The video games industry today is a global business, and video game companies offer their services/products to video game players across the world. Our members are only able to deliver their services/products to their customers if they are in a position to process user data across borders. The industry, therefore, depends on international data flows and a harmonised legal framework that provides uniform rules across territories, in particular in relation to the transfer of personal data outside the EU. While the European Commission is making important efforts to create new adequacy agreements under the GDPR, such as the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, data transfers often still take place under a legal framework based on Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) that require additional safeguards, transfer impact assessments, provision of information, etc.

Pages: 6
Words: 2,870
Format: PDF
Type: Legal

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