US Senator wants to know about all of Sony’s exclusive deals

A US Senator from North Dakota, Kevin Cramer, is questioning Sony about its “anti-competitive behavior” requesting “information about the company’s acquisition agreements”. Cramer sent a letter to Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida himself and posted it on Twitter.

“I am concerned that Sony’s dominance of the market and its efforts to perpetuate its current position jeopardize an important economic development opportunity for North Dakota,” the Senator said.

According to Kevin Cramer, the state “has developed a strategy to lead the nation in computer science and cybersecurity education,” and that “preparing students for careers in video games is an important component of its efforts.”

“With the gaming industry in North Dakota growing significantly, I am concerned by reports that Sony appears to be leveraging its dominance to preclude competition rather than allow choice for gamers and developers,” he added.

Demands of the Senator to Sony

One of the points that the US senator addresses is the various exclusivity agreements in third-party games, such as Final Fantasy XVI, among many others. He is demanding the following from Sony:

• all agreements that give Sony the exclusive right to distribute a third-party game
• all agreements between Sony and third-party studios that prevent them from releasing their games on other systems
• Internal company documents outlining the reasons for Sony’s acquisition of Bungie
• all correspondence with the US government or regulatory agencies regarding competition in the gaming industry

This is not the first time that a US senator has questioned Sony’s dominance in the games industry. Last month, Senator Maria Cantwell accused Sony of controlling “98% of the high-end gaming market” in Japan.

According to her, the Japanese government would have allowed Sony to engage in “blatant anti-competitive conduct through exclusive agreements and payments to game publishers, establishing games that are among the most popular in Japan.” She also stated that the country’s regulatory bodies did nothing to prevent this situation, which hurts foreign companies, from becoming a reality.

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