Activision Blizzard’s ongoing Xbox lawsuit has been in the gaming spotlight for months as Microsoft continues to try to get its big deal approved. That means we’ve been spending a lot of time following court proceedings lately, and recent comments from a US senator mean we’re back (at least virtually) in some sort of committee room once again.
Now it must be said that we Do not think this discussion is directly related to the ActiBlizz deal, but touches on video game monopolies, especially on the other side of the spectrum with Sony. Basically, Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell made some interesting comments this week on the PlayStation maker’s performance in its home country of Japan.
In discussions of “the president’s 2023 trade policy agenda,” Cantwell says he’s heard that Sony “controls a 98% monopoly in the high-end gaming market” in Japan, and that the owner of PlayStation was implicated in “demonstrably anti-competitive conduct through exclusive offers and payments to game publishers.” These are bold claims!
“I’ve been told that Sony controls a 98% monopoly in the high-end game market, but the Japanese government has allowed Sony to engage in blatant anti-competitive conduct through exclusive deals and payments to game publishers …”
The senator says she was simply “told” these facts, so we don’t know how accurate the claims are to be honest. The figure of 98% looks counting only Xbox Series X related games | S and PlayStation 5 (if the senator uses this recent FTC market definition), which excludes a large portion of gamers in the region.
However, if remotely accurate, the stats are interesting to read and could certainly help Microsoft expand its gaming division with the Xbox and Activision Blizzard merger. Sony clearly has a much higher percentage of the “premium” market in its home country compared to Xbox’s control of the US market.
At this time, we do not know if these discussions will affect ActiBlizz’s ongoing proceedings; we’ll have to wait and see how the FTC handles his case in the months ahead. As of this writing, the US regulator is due to present its findings at a court hearing on August 2, 2023.
What do you think of these bold comments? Let us know your thoughts on the subject below.
(source subscriber.politicopro.com, via kotaku.com)
Ben is a fan of action, racing, and direct fire in every video game he can get his hands on. When he’s not playing, Ben spends his time listening to too many Guns N’ Roses, watching football, and probably eating somewhere.