Romanian Anti-Trust Probe Accuses PlayStation of Abusing 'Dominant Position'
Romanian Anti-Trust Probe Accuses PlayStation of Abusing 'Dominant Position' - News
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The Competition Council of Romania in a press release announced it is investigating Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe for infringing competition rules in the country by abusing its "dominant position" in the video game market.
"The Competition Council has launched an investigation into a possible infringement of the competition rules by Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Limited and its subsidiaries," reads a translation of the press release via ResetEra. Adding this is related to "the video game distribution market for PlayStation consoles."
The investigation states that Sony may have been abusing its market position by prohibiting the sale of game activation codes by competing distributors.
"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 video compatible with PlayStation consoles by competing distributors," reads the press release.
"These practices would have reduced the purchasing options for PlayStation-compatible video games, leading to higher prices for video games for this type of console. Another effect of these practices is the discouraging of Romanian studios from developing video games compatible with PlayStation.
"Sony's PlayStation brand consoles are preferred by Romanian gamers, according to public information, in Romania there are approximately 1.3 million console video game users and 127 video game development studios that would be affected by this possible anti-competitive practice of Sony.
"As part of this investigation, the Competition Council carried out inspections at Sony's premises in Europe to gather information and evidence.
"The inspections are justified by the need to obtain all the information and documents necessary to clarify the possible anti-competitive practices analyzed. Doing so does not prejudge the companies' guilt."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Source: VGChartz
