Sony is to receive a hefty fine from the French government after an investigation found that the company had breached rules in the games market.

Sony has been fined €13.5 million ($14.8 million) by the French government for violating antitrust rules in the supply of PlayStation 4 controllers. According to the French antitrust regulator, Sony committed two violations and abused its position in the video game market, which led to the fine.

The PlayStation 5, released in November 2020, has become a worldwide success for Sony as first-party support for the PS4 began to slow. Although supply problems initially hampered sales of the console, the PS5 reached 50 million units worldwide by December 2023. Sony Interactive Entertainment’s outgoing CEO Jim Ryan also reassured fans that a “full set” of PS5 consoles will be available this holiday season.

Competition Policy International reports that the French antitrust regulator, the Autorite de la Concurrence, has closed its investigation and announced that Sony has been fined €13.5 million for two primary infringements. Firstly, Sony’s technical measures against counterfeit PS4 controllers were considered harmful to third party manufacturers as they would target unauthorised controllers indiscriminately with systematic disconnections. These measures were introduced with the PS4 system update in November 2015, and in subsequent system updates, third-party controllers were often broken during the update process. This would result in the first infringement case against Sony, as the regulator has claimed that these measures hinder the expansion of third-party manufacturers and negatively affect their brand image.

Second infringement: lack of transparent licensing policy and communication

The French regulator notes that the lack of transparency in Sony’s licensing policy led to the second infringement. Companies were reportedly prevented from joining Sony’s licensing programme because access was only granted through a partnership programme. The regulator discovered that Sony had refused to disclose to manufacturers the criteria for access to the programme, and that the criteria themselves were applied at Sony’s discretion. In combination with the acts committed in the first infringement, the Autorite de la Concurrence considered that Sony’s practices had a negative impact on the video games market and discouraged third party manufacturers from doing business, leading to their foreclosure. Sony has so far not responded publicly to the fine, but the regulator’s decision could pave the way for further scrutiny of the global practices of large companies such as Sony and Microsoft.

The video games market continues to grow year on year, with many third-party manufacturers producing accessories and controllers for the latest game platforms. Barriers to manufacturers may limit gamers’ access to third-party controllers, and restrictions imposed by Sony may also adversely affect third-party access efforts. Sony may want to re-evaluate its policy on controllers, as the new devices could greatly benefit the PS5 generation of its player base.

There has been some controversial news about Sony in recent months. The latest Insomniac Games leak revealed that Sony had been pressuring the company to lay off employees. For Sony, 2024 offers the opportunity to have an important and successful period if the company can avoid controversy and regulatory scrutiny, secure vendor support, and release significant first-party games to keep fans happy.

Source : GameRant https://gamerant.com/sony-fine-french-government/