Does the CRA apply to video games?
Likely yes
Likely yes for any game that is sold, free-to-play with purchases, or ad-funded. A game is software with a direct or indirect network connection, made available in the course of a commercial activity [[F-005]] [[F-007]].
The deciding factors
| Factor | If true | If false | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made available on the EU market | Scope questions continue | Likely out of scope | F-101 |
| Supplied in the course of a commercial activity | Scope questions continue | Likely out of scope (or the open-source light regime) | F-007 |
| Has a direct or indirect connection to a device or network | It is a product with digital elements | Likely out of scope | F-005 |
| Product cannot perform a function without your own backend | That remote processing is part of the product | Only the installed part is the product | F-107 |
Check your own product
Start the short scope check with the product type pre-selected. Every legally material fact — EU availability, commercial activity, exclusions, your role — is asked, never assumed.
Example scenarios
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Paid indie game on an EU-facing store
Likely in scope · role: _
Installed, connected and sold: a product with digital elements in scope.
Deciding fact: Art. 3(1), Art. 2(1)
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Free-to-play game funded by in-app purchases
Likely in scope · role: _
Monetisation through purchases is a commercial activity; the game is placed on the market.
Deciding fact: Art. 3(1), Art. 2(1)
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Online-only game whose matches run on your servers
Likely in scope · role: _ · remote processing in scope
The installed client cannot perform its function without your backend, so the backend is part of the product too.
Deciding fact: Art. 3(1), Art. 2(1)
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Free game jam entry, no ads, no purchases
Likely out of scope · role: _
Not supplied in the course of a commercial activity, so not made available on the market.
Deciding fact: Art. 2(1), Art. 3(22), Recitals
Each scenario is a fixture: the shared CEMarque rules engine evaluates its inputs at build time and the page cannot be served if the outcome shown here differs from the engine's.
Edge cases
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Why
Games are software products
A game is software with a direct or indirect connection to a network, whether for multiplayer, achievements, updates or storefront licensing, so it meets the definition of a product with digital elements [1]. It is in scope when made available on the EU market in the course of a commercial activity [2] [3].
Free-to-play and ads
The Regulation reads commercial activity widely. Charging a price, charging for support or monetising through advertising or purchases all count [2]. Free-to-play games are commercial. The non-commercial case is a game supplied with no monetisation at all, which is not placed on the market [2].
Online games and your servers
Where the client is designed to depend on your own remote data processing and cannot perform a function without it, that remote processing is part of the product with digital elements [4] [5]. A single-player game with optional cloud saves is one product; an online game whose matches run on your servers is one product whose backend is in scope with it.
Engines and middleware
An engine or middleware supplied to studios commercially is a component placed on the market separately and a product in its own right [1]. A studio that integrates it is the manufacturer of the finished game. Open-source engines that are not monetised are not placed on the market [6].
Timing
Article 14 reporting applies from 2026-09-11; full requirements and CE marking apply from 2027-12-11. Dates come from the Facts Table entries cited below, evaluated for the first example; run the check for your own product's dates.
What to do next
CRARequired only answers applicability. CEMarque carries your answers forward and adds your role, class, conformity route, dates, obligations, and a permanent cited verdict.
Check my product Run the full cited determination on CEMarque
Related applicability questions
Sources
- F-005 A product with digital elements is a software or hardware product and its remote data processing solutions, including components placed on the market separately, whose intended purpose or reasonably foreseeable use includes a direct or indirect logical or physical data connection to a device or network. Art. 3(1), Art. 2(1) EUR-Lex ↩
- F-007 The Regulation applies to products made available on the market in the course of a commercial activity; charging a price, charging for support, monetising via advertising or data, or otherwise intending to monetise are commercial activity. Art. 2(1), Art. 3(22), Recitals EUR-Lex ↩
- F-101 Made available on the market means supply for distribution or use on the EU market in the course of a commercial activity. Art. 3(22) EUR-Lex ↩
- F-006 Remote data processing means data processing at a distance for which the software is designed and developed by the manufacturer, or under the responsibility of the manufacturer, and the absence of which would prevent the product from performing one of its functions. Art. 3(2) EUR-Lex ↩
- F-107 Where a product depends on your own remote data processing (a backend or API without which it cannot perform one of its functions), that remote processing is part of the product: it is covered by the essential requirements, the technical documentation and market surveillance alongside the client software or device. Art. 3(1)–(2), Annex I, Annex VII EUR-Lex ↩
- F-009 Free and open-source software not monetised is not considered placed on the market. Open-source software stewards (legal persons that systematically support free and open-source software intended for commercial activities) have a light regime: a documented cybersecurity policy, cooperation with authorities, and Article 14 reporting only where they are involved in development or where an incident affects their own development infrastructure; they do not affix CE marking and are not subject to fines. Art. 3(14), Art. 3(48), Art. 24, Art. 64(10)(b), Recitals 18–19 EUR-Lex ↩
CRARequired answers applicability only, using scope logic and cited regulatory facts maintained by CEMarque, which encodes Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 and published guidance as of Facts v2026.09.4 (10 September 2026). Results are "likely" or "conditional" readings of your answers, not a legal opinion and not a conformity assessment. Run the full cited determination on CEMarque before you act. Methodology.