Senator Kevin Kramer of the United States sent a letter to Sony clarifying the exclusivity agreements made with other publishers for over 20 years for PlayStation consoles, which caused serious damage to the market and therefore to the public, and also led to an increase in the prices of games.
Kramer then sent a letter to the Japanese giant’s CEO, Kenichiro Yoshida, on April 13 expressing “concern about Sony’s efforts to protect its video game console business from competition.”
Cramer asked the Japanese company to provide “unedited copies” of “all agreements giving him the exclusive right to distribute a game developed by an independent publisher”, essentially asking for all agreement documents relating to exclusive PlayStation games. such as Final Fantasy XVI, which were also not announced for the Xbox.
The senator is also asking for full details of agreements that prevent other publishers from releasing games on subscription services such as Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass. Not content with that, Kramer also wants to see Sony’s internal strategy documents on the Destiny team acquisition of Bungie during 2022, as well as “all correspondence” with federal or state regulators about gaming competition.
Senator Cramer’s letter echoes letters signed by 11 other members of Congress last month. Also in this case, Sony’s behavior in the video game world was criticized, hurting Microsoft and other American companies with antitrust policies.
It seems extremely difficult to imagine that Sony voluntarily submits all this documentation, continuing to pander to politics only by a judge’s decision.
The US Senator from North Dakota is now concerned about Sony’s behavior in the gaming industry.
Copies of Sony agreements prohibiting games from appearing on competing platforms/services are required.
Citing 221 jobs in the North Dakota gaming industry as reason for the weighting https://t.co/LOZIkXuVH9
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) April 14, 2023
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