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PlayStation 4 owners in need of a new controller have three different options to choose from. First of all, there is the PS4 game controller from Sony, the Dual Shock 4, which is the most expensive, but experience shows that it works best. Secondly, there are controllers from manufacturers that are allowed to produce under license from the Sony Group, which are slightly cheaper. Thirdly, there are third-party PS4 controllers that are not licensed by Sony and have caused problems in the past. It is now clear that Sony is not entirely innocent.
The company that complained about Sony’s business practices and sparked the investigation is Subsonic, a French game controller maker. Subsonic is known among Playstation fans for, among other things, its particularly affordable PS4 game controller products. The French company accuses Sony of deliberately ensuring that unlicensed PS4 controllers do not work well. The French antitrust authorities therefore conducted an investigation and subsequently sentenced the Japanese electronics company to a heavy fine of several million euros for two unfair business practices.
First, Sony is accused of having taken technical measures to change the functionality of third-party controllers since November 2015 under the guise of combating counterfeiting. In the past, these measures resulted in game controllers being switched off when the PlayStation was updated. According to the French antitrust authorities, the aim of combating counterfeiting is legitimate, but the measures taken were considered disproportionate as they affected all unlicensed controllers without exception.
The second accusation for which Sony was convicted is its opaque licensing policy. As part of their investigation, the French antitrust authorities found that Sony had deliberately made it difficult for manufacturers who applied for it to access the OLP partnership program, even though it was the only way for third parties to obtain official licenses to market ECUs compatible with the PS4.
For these two embezzlements, the French competition authority imposed a fine of 13,527,000 euros (or approximately $14,800,000) on Sony on December 20, 2023. Although the power giant is unlikely to face financial difficulties following this decision, it could still set a precedent for other lawsuits. It remains to be seen whether PlayStation controllers from other manufacturers will work better in the future.
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