After an investigation by one of the member countries, Sony is in big trouble in Europe. What is the legal expectation?
This time, it is not Microsoft (in connection with the takeover of the publisher Activision Blizzard) who is accused of anti-competitive behavior, but Sony. More specifically, a member country of the European Union is investigating the PlayStation case. What destabilizes the manufacturer?
PlayStation and Justice
Put simply, the Romanian Competition Council (RCC) has launched an antitrust investigation against the company Sony for restricting the sale of digital PlayStation games to his PS store . This isn’t the first time Sony has been investigated for this type of practice. In fact, the company faced similar lawsuits in the US last year for the same reasons, one of which was dismissed. Sony had denied the practices outright and asked the California courts to dismiss the lawsuit. This request was accepted without reservation.
As noted forum user ResetEra Idas mentions, the Romanian government agency RCC claims that Sony may have violated Romanian competition laws by forcing players to purchase digital games through the PS Store, the only solution available to consumers. As icing on the cake, the agency believes that Sony may have abused its dominance in the console market by banning the sale of games through competing distributors. Not bad, right?
Romania is investigating the Sony case
The infamous RCC claims that Sony has restricted purchasing options for gamers, allowing it to charge high prices for games. Of course, as with Apple, if everything stays in-house in the same store, the owner can apply the prices he wants without competition. It just doesn’t seem to be happening in Romania. Also note that Sony/PlayStation is the only console manufacturer that does not permit the sale of digital game codes through third parties. Romania is currently conducting inspections at Sony’s European offices to find further evidence on this matter. It remains to be seen what will come of it. It’s hard to imagine PlayStation having to pay that much as there don’t seem to be any issues elsewhere in Europe.
What do you think of this revelation about Romania and Sony? Do you thinkS on your side that the manufacturer has anti-competitive practices ?
