Because Sony used anti-piracy measures to ensure that controllers from other manufacturers did not work as well as they should, Sony now has to pay millions.
Why does Sony have to pay? In France, the antitrust office there has sentenced Sony to a fine of one million. This was preceded by a complaint from the French controller manufacturer Subsonic.
Subsonic reported Sony about compatibility issues and a lack of communication when trying to join the licensing program.
The French cartel office then started an investigation, which resulted in Sony now having to pay a fine of 13.5 million euros.
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Sony ensured that the competition became worse
Why did the competition get worse? The controller manufacturer Subsonic has had repeated problems with controllers no longer being connected to the console after software updates. Users of the third-party controllers had to reconnect them again and again.
In addition, the controller manufacturer is said to have had difficulties joining Sony’s licensing program because they did not want to pass on any information about it. This is said to have slowed down the development of controllers.
What did the French authorities find out? The French authority was able to attribute the connection problems to Sony’s anti-piracy measures. These probably ensured that the controllers had to reconnect again and again.
These measures have been in force since 2015, which is a considerable amount of time during which Subsonic had to struggle with the problems.
The authority was also able to determine Sony’s misconduct in communications within the licensing program. The authority determined that Sony had actually refused to provide conditions and criteria to participate in the licensing program in the past.
These circumstances would have resulted in Sony now having to pay a fine of 13.5 million euros. This isn’t a lot of money for the company, but it sets a precedent that can show other companies that such measures against third-party providers are not allowed. Not only in France, but also in the USA, Sony is being sued over controllers.