The market dominance of Sony’s PlayStation brand is being investigated by Romanian antitrust officials.
The Romanian Competition Council is looking into Sony’s PlayStation brand for antitrust violations. The authority has expressed worries about Sony’s possible exploitation of its PlayStation platform to take advantage of its dominant position in the console gaming business. One specific issue is Sony’s exclusivity through the PlayStation Store exclusive digital distribution of games, which may limit competition. Another issue is the company’s policy of forbidding third-party dealers from providing game keys, which furthers its monopoly.
This was announced in a news release stating that The Romanian Competition Council has opened an investigation into whether Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Limited and its subsidiaries may have broken any competition laws. The business is being investigated for its involvement in the PlayStation console’s video game distribution market. You can check the official document on the authority’s official page.
Evidence that Sony may have abused its dominating position in the video game console market is in the hands of the competition authority. The exclusive sale of digital games compatible with PlayStation systems through the PlayStation Store platform and the ban on rival distributors selling activation codes for video games compatible with PlayStation consoles are two specific activities that are the subject of the investigation. The Romanian Competition Council claims that Sony’s activities may have restricted the selection of PlayStation-compatible games, pushing up the cost of the games for this device. Furthermore, these methods have discouraged Romanian game development studios from producing PlayStation-compatible video games.
Information that is readily accessible to the general public suggests that Romanian video game passionates choose Sony’s PlayStation line of gaming consoles. Around 1.3 million Romanian own a console and 127 game production firms may be impacted by Sony’s conceivably anti-competitive actions.
The Competition Council has carried out inspections at Sony’s European facilities as part of the inquiry to acquire pertinent data and proof. According to the antitrust authorities, the need to gather all relevant papers and data required for a comprehensive evaluation of the potential anti-competitive conduct justifies these searches. The press release makes it clear that these inspections do not determine whether the companies concerned are guilty or not.
It remains to be seen whether Sony will receive a significant punishment as a result of the 2022 antitrust class action lawsuit in the UK or the Romanian Competition Council probe. However, the UK had quite severe regulations when it came to Xbox, so it’s probable Sony may face challenges in the coming months for its PS shop policies. We hope they can come to an agreement if they are found guilty and that this situation won’t affect Sony’s goal of creating their own multiplayer games.
