Sony Hit with €13.5m Fine by French Antitrust Authority

The French antitrust regulator, Autorité de la Concurrence, has imposed a fine of €13.5 million on Sony, alleging that the company abused its market dominance by restricting the sale of third-party PlayStation 4 controllers. The investigation, which was initiated last month following a complaint from French controller manufacturer Subsonic, revealed that Sony introduced anti-counterfeiting measures in November 2015 that caused frequent disconnections of third-party controllers during system updates. Furthermore, the regulator found that Sony's licensing program was inaccessible to third-party manufacturers, as the company allegedly refused to disclose the terms and criteria for participation. This combination of practices, according to the regulator, has significantly harmed the reputation of affected third-party manufacturers, hindering their market expansion and potentially leading to their exclusion. GamesIndustry.biz has contacted Sony for a statement. To stay up-to-date with the latest news, sign up for the GI Daily newsletter.