Last December 2023, the Autorité de la Concurrence, a French government body, accused Sony of abusing its position in the market for the supply of controllers. Playstation 4. Now, It has been revealed that the company has lost the lawsuit, and has been fined a million-dollar amount.
Total, Sony will have to pay €13.5 million euros, or $14.8 million dollars, to France's antitrust regulator. The Autorité de la Concurrence revealed two main infringements committed by the Japanese company, which led to a significant fine. First, in November 2015, the company implemented technical measures to combat piracy, which inadvertently affected the proper functioning of third-party controls produced without an official license from Sony.
According to the regulator, Third party controls kept disconnecting during OS updates of the console due to Sony's measures, which are considered disproportionate. Secondly, it was mentioned that rival companies were prevented from joining the PlayStation licensing program, and that access was only granted through Sony's partnership program.
The regulatory authority found that Sony refused to communicate the criteria for access to the program to the manufacturers who requested it, claiming that the criteria were applied at Sony's discretion. This is what the Competition Authority commented:
“Sony applied the criteria on a discretionary basis, although access to the program was the only way to avoid disconnections.”
The combination of these practices, according to the antitrust agency, significantly damaged the brand image of third-party manufacturers, and prevented their expansion in the market, which could lead to their foreclosure. For its part, Sony has not yet publicly responded to the fine. However, this decision is expected to have repercussions on the industry as a whole, sparking debates about fair competition and the responsibilities of dominant players in the market.
We can only wait to see not only how Sony will react, but how Nintendo and Xbox will also take action after the result of this lawsuit is announced. On related topics, Sony would be planning multiple layoffs at PlayStation. Likewise, these are the games coming to PlayStation Plus in January.
Editor's Note:
Third party controls are extremely important. Not everyone can buy an official controller that costs the same as a game, so having options is important for the market. I can't believe that even today, with the PS5 already on the market for three years, a PS4 controller still has such a high price. I hope this changes in the future.
Via: VGC
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