The video game industry has grown exponentially in the past few years, and its popularity shows no sign of slowing down. According to some of the market researchers, in 2023 the global video game market is projected to reach revenues of over US$370 billion. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a significant factor driving the industry’s growth, as more and more people are spending time at home and looking for new forms of entertainment. Additionally, mobile gaming has become an increasingly significant segment of the video game market, accounting for over 50 percent of current global game revenues.

With the advent of new trends such as the metaverse, NFTs and blockchain gaming, we are observing video game sector clients continually exploring new ways to enhance the player experience. At the same time, the legal issues of the video game sector have become increasingly complex, with a growing number of legal challenges faced by developers, publishers and distributors, with such issues as an increased interest in consumer and minor protection and its possible variation between the jurisdictions in some of the aspects such as monetization schemes.

This report aims to provide an overview of selected legal aspects of the video game sector, covering varied topics, from the regulatory, consumer protection, privacy, investment and employment perspectives, across different jurisdictions and regions. We start with an overview of the current market trends such as metaverse, generative AI, and blockchain gaming, as well as a summary of numbers and financials broken down into platforms, regions, countries and market leaders. Then we provide an overview of the EU perspective, including changes to the consumer and minor protection rules, of the current state of play related to loot box regulation, as well as privacy related considerations. In the next article we offer practical guidance as to what to take into consideration when entering a Chinese video game market. The US perspective is presented with respect to NFT and copyright, as well as an overview of social gaming issues, while the Canadian approach is presented as regards cheating in games. Finally, we elaborate on combating infringements of games’ intellectual property, investing in video game companies and employment issues from the French, Turkish and Slovakian perspectives.

This publication marks the beginning of a series of contributions we are about to make in this field, hoping that it will prove useful for the market’s stakeholders. We would be pleased to discuss any of the issues relevant to the sector, for which purpose you are invited to reach out to the key contacts listed in this publication.

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