Canada Tightens Foreign Takeover Rules for Video Games and VR

Canada will enhance its scrutiny of foreign investments in video games and other interactive media, seeking to block outside actors from manipulating public opinion in the country.

“Hostile state-sponsored or state-influenced actors may try to leverage foreign investments in the interactive digital media sector to spread disinformation and manipulate information,” Science and Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Friday in a joint announcement with Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge.

Francois-Philippe Champagne

Photographer: Allen McInnis/Bloomberg

Citing the Investment Canada Act, which gives the government the authority to review all foreign investments, the tougher stance applies to deals in interactive digital media, which may apply to ...