The company’s “dominant position in the video game console market” has been abused, and Sony is being investigated for this.
Sony is being investigated by Romania’s competition authority for allegedly only allowing the sale of digital games through the PlayStation Store and prohibiting the sale of third-party activation codes.
A press release issued by the Romanian Competition Council and translated and shared on ResetEra reads, “The competition authority has indications that Sony may have abused its dominant position in the video game console market, both by selling online video games compatible with PlayStation consoles exclusively through the PlayStation Store platform and by prohibiting the sale of game activation codes compatible with PlayStation consoles by competing distributors.”
The competition body asserts that taking these actions “would have reduced the purchasing options” for PlayStation games, leading to higher prices. This could also “deter Romanian studios from creating PlayStation-compatible video games.”
The European division of Sony has been scrutinized by the Competition Council for anti-competitive practices.
Sony has yet to comment on the investigation, but customers have high hopes that third-party retailers will offer PlayStation games at reduced prices if the company is found to have violated competition restrictions.
One ResetEra member said, “Hey, if this somehow could lead to cheaper PS5 keys from third-party sites, I’m all for it,” adding that “it probably won’t amount to much since it would affect beasts much bigger than Sony.”
One commenter notes that there is a “pretty big” problem with the lack of options for the platform proprietors’ online storefronts. This needs to be dealt with in a fully digital future, and the results of this probe are encouraging. Check out our next list of the best PS5 games.