11 members of Congress argue Sony is unfairly hurting Xbox in Japan-Axios

In letters obtained by Axios, reps blast an “imbalanced Japanese video game market.”

[SinisterMister]

So the government is getting in on this now, huh

[sparky77]

As they should, Sony is preventing Xbox gamers playing JP games like Final Fantasy which is why they dominate in JP. And since Sony doesn't count Nintendo they have a monopoly.

Sony shouldn't have poked the bear that is MS, you can bet after the deal is done they will go scorched earth on Sony.

MS has the money and power to make Sony disappear so they best keep silent from here on if they want to remain relevant.

[blackblades]

Sony hasnt done much like Nintendo is getting JP games as well. The only company is square that they are doing a couple of deals outta dozens of games.

[isarai]

They dominate the Japanese market because it is a Japanese company. And not all PS exclusive jp titles are exclusive due to exclusivity deals. Yeah FF for sure is, but there's dozens if not hundreds of jp games that are exclusive simply because they dont see the point in putting it elsewhere. Also MS has exclusivity deals too, doesnt matter where they're from. If MS was that concerned about it they would have finished Scalebound or Phantom Dust

[shinoff2183]

Kinda like ms has already gone and cornered the western rpg market. From things I've read ms doesn't even try in Japan anymore. They did during the 360 and after about 4 5 jrpgs they just said nah. That's on ms

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

"unfairly"

Would Sony buying SE make it fair?

[Servbot41]

Why would Yoshi-P make a game for Xbox when Microsoft specifically said "no, we don't want your previous game, FF14n on our console."

[Redemption-64]

Yeah, like making donations to some of these politicians right? You Xbox fanboys would co-sign corruption if MS does it. You claim MS has money and power, yet they refuse to invest in the Japanese market, yet their have enough money to encourage some politicians to spread lies.

Microsoft can literally work with more Japanese studios, open Studios and releases games that appeals to the Japanese market, they can also advertise their products in Japan, they don't and cry about the Japanese government or Sony getting in their way.

[Huey_My_D_Long]

What the fuck are you on about? I didn't realize this gamer shit is becoming a fucking national issue.
Sony dominates Japan if we don't count Nintendo? Well no shit...not sonys fault MS is a real competitor over there.
I like how Apple does well in japan.
Shows if a foreign company actually wants to make headway in Japan, they totally can.
MS never gave a fuck about Japan.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

😊

[notachance]

some shitty efforts from MS for further appeal to ABK deal there with obvious lobbying lmao

conveniently skipped Nintendo and PC overwhelming dominance over Sony in japan with ultra specific “high-end console market space” phrase, when in any other day they’d claim PC is one of their environments until their throat is sore

what’s funny is how these congressmen suddenly understand “high-end console market space in japan” as if they’ve been a game connosieur all their lives, I don’t even think they can even name all Xbox console right.

[Justo909]

Before its wait for E3 now its wait for activision deal is done LMAO! xbox 3rd place for life.

[TheRunup57]

Your rantings are like those of people that love the sound of their own voice. I know you're enjoying spending time in the fantasy world you've created for yourself though.

[fr0sty]

Rep. Kevin McCarthy: Those people are stopping American businesses from selling those play things in Japan, and this will not stand! We want the PlayBoxes to be fairly sold worldwide, we demand it! IF you do not start selling more good ol' American-made Nintendos in China, we're going to call for an investigation and subpoena Xi Jinping to testify before Congress!

[kayoss]

Sony nor Nintendo is preventing anything. Playstation and Nintendo sells more consoles so developers makes games for those consoles. Why would japanese developers make games for a consoles that only sales 300 consoles per month?

[lucian229]

Xbox gamers don't like Japanese games. They just okay halo, gears and forza. That's why Sony dominates there.

[Gamer_Dude]

Yup, this is going to blow up in Sony's face. They should have taken the 10 year deal.

[MeteorPanda]

They released a few games on xbox..they don't sell man. lol You can take a horse to water but you cannot make it drink. The community on xbox simply don't play jrpg.

Lost Odyssey was a damn hit of a game that deserved way more sales than it got.

[1Victor]

@ sparky Kid here’s a lesson in business, companies follow the money if your distributor isn’t promoting your product and have it in the back of the store with a broken light while the distributor competition have it at the front door with bright lights, sales signs and sale 10x the other who do you think the company will look for to sale their product, the one that barely sale it in the back or the one that sales 10x by the front door, I know it’s hard to use logic but think about it.

SPOILER ALERT 🚨
It’s the one that sale the most and the company will keep going to the one that sales the most

[EvertonFC]

Go see a therapist fella, you need serious help

[tay8701]

Lmao ah ok. How long has MS had that same power and money to make Sony "disappear"? They have been in the game business now for what like 20 yrs now, and they ALWAYS finish last. Lol Sony are a smaller company, but they are FAR better at making games. Call me when they have blockbusters like the last of us, God of war, spiderman, uncharted etc. The only way they can try to compete is to buy up publushers like abk. It's really sad.

[RedDevils]

Some of these Xbox fanboy is beyond stupid, maybe is a next gen thing lmao.

[dnawesum]

"MS has the money and power to make Sony disappear so they best keep silent from here on if they want to remain relevant."
You just described the actions of a monopoly using threat, force and intimidation to further their means.

Congratulations, you played yourself.

[Kekewei]

Not just Japan, Sony dominated in certain countries because they care about the market outside of US. While MS is crying about Japan, Sony is pushing their investment to Korea, China， India , Thailand... "China Hero" project, Playstation studio Malaysia , just today they released a playstation story commercial in Thai.
And most importantly, the xsx supplyment to Asia is SHIT compared to PS5. The price of xsx here are much higher than PS5 because of that. By what Chinese says here, MS is treating us like monkeys, their console supply is like throwing bananas to monkeys just for fun.
MS's failure in Japan reflects his ignorance to the whole east. They have much to cry about, and it's def not because of one or two exclusives titles. Even in this case, MS pretend they care about Japan, but in real they are just using this as leverage to make Sony bend.

[Vengeance1138]

Go touch grass xbot fanboy, you sound just like Microsoft, butt hurt and crying like a little baby.
MS can have all the studios it wants and it won't make a single difference lol they'll all just be mismanaged and closed years later. How's Halo working out for you? Oh that's right, its dead now.
How's Rare doing? Oh right they were mismanaged into oblivion.
How's Playground Games? Ahh all top veterans quit! Hahaha LOL I'd expect CoD to be a very dead franchise soon.

[Binarycode]

Japan doesn't buy American Consoles and never has. They are not interested and besides that.

Nintendo rules the roost in Japan and I don't ever see that ending.

One reason is the handheld market. It's massive out there.

[SDuck]

you speak of both companies as a whole in a contained market rivalry. MS ain't putting all their resources onto this. The sub division of MS dedicated to gaming is! Same goes for Sony's side. Translated into simple terms, Sony is bigger than MS in the gaming department

[MrNinosan]

Here is some of the jrpgs that was exclusive to Xbox, and they all flopped badly just for that reason.
We have no idea what games has been paid for time exclusivity or life time exclusivity, what we do know however is that Square and many other Japanese companies doesn't see profit in putting games on Xbox anymore, even thou they tried over and over again.

The mindset that only Sony reach out to SE is getting childish, as it's so far from the truth.

Eternal Sonata (Bandai Namco)
Octopath Traveler (SquareEnix)
Lost Odyssey (Mistwalker)
Blue Dragon (Mistwalker)
Infinite Undiscovery (SquareEnix)
Star Ocean: The Last Hope (SquareEnix)
The Last Remnant (SquareEnix)
Crystal Defenders (Square Enix)

[Abear21]

If by “scorched earth” you mean a couple legal treadmills and wasted dollars, sure, but you talk like MS if gonna go Taken on Sony, drop the phone and find them in their sleep, jeez, it’s legal video game BS, calm yourself

[chrislinc79]

Final Fantacy has nothing to do with it. MS just does not appeal to the JP. How well did the 360 do in JP, it had final fantasy and other rpg games. Maybe, just maybe it MS

[Mr_Writer85]

"As they should, Sony is preventing Xbox gamers playing JP games like Final Fantasy"..

And..........Oh is that it? Do you have any more examples of Japanese games Sony has blocked? And I mean where Sony have a written down deal that specifically excludes Xbox and not because of poor Xbox sales in Japan.

Another Xbox fanboy made a similar claim on Eurogamer, but funny enough they couldn't think of any more examples.

"Sony doesn't count Nintendo they have a monopoly" do you have a link to this claim?

[sadraiden]

How is that an American congressional area of concern?

How is it of the American Congress' power to affect the behavior of a Japanese corporation over another?

[blackblades]

They need to stay out of it honestly, they don't know nothing about video games to begin with. Like the time they tried to blame video games for gun violence.

[shinoff2183]

Exactly. Maybe a handful of them literally but the rest of them old ass white dudes don't know dick about gaming except its an easy scapegoat for a mass shooting. Also the first 1 that jumped on this bandwagon was a politician from Washington state itself. You know what company of the big 3 console makers is from Washington state right

[Lifexline]

No what they are doing is the right thing sony needs to be fined what they are doing that’s actually anticompetitive. They need to be regulated Japan needs to stop showing preferential treatment to Japanese companies if not the US should do the same

To pay a developer in Japan to exclude a game on Xbox definitely needs to be checked whether it sells or not is not the point. They shouldn’t be bitching about call of duty if that was the case. They brought this on themselves now need to be looked at closely and have their practices scrutinized and fined or file a lawsuit on.

[wiz7191]

@blackblades that’s because we are morally sane individuals , but it’s some ppl who are crazy asf out there that will see stuff in movies and games .. then try to reenact something’s on real life

[lelo2play]

Well, Sony open the the hornet's nest. Now they must deal with the consequences.

Many people claim Final Fantasy doesn't sell on Xbox. Basically, Sony doesn't need those Final Fantasy exclusives deals, since the Xbox market is irrelevant for japanese games. So by their logic, Sony is just throwing away money on these deals... apparently, the American Congress doesn't agree with those people.

[CrimsonWing69]

That’s the thing.

If Sony didn’t go full-r*tard on this and make all these outlandish claims to stop what is the 4th biggest revenue income publisher for them, under them no less, these things wouldn’t have come to light.

Now, all their scum bag practices got aired out. Officials declare MS acquisition not to be anti-competitive or a monopolistic move and as a result Sony is now being questioned by all the revelations that came about these court proceedings.

Should’ve just taken the deal…

[shinoff2183]

Sony opened the honest message. What are you 12. We're you even alive during the Xbox 360 Era for fuks sake.

[DarXyde]

I would say it's fair enough that Sony is getting grief for this. I've said it before, but I fully understand their interests in trying to block the deal, but when you go to court and you're doing shady stuff, you CAN'T be upset when it comes to light that you've got some trade secrets and panic when they get aired out. In this regard, Microsoft did nothing wrong and Sony goofed.

And you make an interesting point on Sony essentially throwing away money. The only benefit I can see to this strategy is essentially commissioning publishers and developers to make the one console version the best that it can be. An incentive, if you will.

As for the American Congress, well... It's pretty much a democratic senator from Microsoft's home state and some right wing House members (who, if you don't know, are quite corporate capitalists; Democrats are too, but let's just say republicans are just more honest in how terrible they are). If Microsoft opens up their wallets even more, I'm sure they'll get the support they need from legislators with a price tag. If we see McConnell and/or Manchin get in on this, you'll know what's up.

[Godmars290]

Sony started this by buying a major publisher and several IPs? Having the money to do so yet failing to develop its own in-house games years after, decades, being in the industry.

[bleedsoe9mm]

EC as well
https://ec.europa.eu/commis...

[S2Killinit]

Oh yeah, MS is pulling its lobbyists in congress.

[tay8701]

Yah they are probably fearing them buying up a smaller Japanese publisher or 2. I'd trade ABK for Capcom and square all day long.

[S2Killinit]

I like how 6 people disagreed with my comment like there is any other reason. Lol

@tay8701
Same here. Also there are rumors of a certain large publisher that is in Sony’s crosshairs. At this point the rest of the multiplatform publishers are all for grab with the legal precedence that is about to be set by MS’s aquisition of Activision, so I hope Sony goes after some instead of some other corporate giant like tencent, apple, google, etc.

[MADGameR]

You know Bill Gates and the Builderbergers are in on this too

[SullysCigar]

He still has a big portion of his personal wealth in Microsoft, which means strings are being pulled, because he'll want to protect that. Big tech needs putting in it's place, THAT'S something congress should be involved with, not helping them to amass more power. They're only doing this because of orders from above and/or for personal interests.

[DarXyde]

This topic again..

Not gonna harp on it, just want to say that the timing is suspicious and you would be foolish to believe this uncritically.

Very curious about recent lobbying efforts.

[Jin_Sakai]

Japan don’t care about Xbox. But hey let’s blame Sony. And ignore the fact Nintendo is the one actually dominating.

[Jin_Sakai]

“As they should, Sony is preventing Xbox gamers playing JP games like Final Fantasy which is why they dominate in JP.”

Square Enix could’ve easily said no to PS5 exclusivity but they didn’t. It’s not a one way street.

[Jin_Sakai]

Sony should buy Rockstar and tell Microsoft they have 10 years to come up with a GTA competitor.

[tay8701]

It would be hysterical if that were to go down. They would be in full meltdown mode. Then all of the sudden It would be bad that Sony buys up a big publisher, when they have been screaming IF MS and ABK wants to do it, they should be able to.

[S2Killinit]

The legal precedence set by MS’s acquisition means the rest of the industry will go the same route, there will be a frenzy of mergers amd acquisitions. There is already rumors of Sony aiming for exactly what you mentioned. Other mega corporations will also be aiming for the rest of the publishers so they can create their own services.

[1Victor]

🤦🏿 they( politicians) gotta protect their donors interests

[ActualEngineer]

Yeah, it's all a big plot so that Japan is forced to let MS buy Sega and Namco and have all 4 classic characters as their mascot. They will then replace the X in a circle with an X over pacman's face, as their logo. We will also see adds in the likes of Crash, Spyro, Sonic and Pac-Lady around an MS logo with the caption "the way it's ment to be plaid" 🤣

[SullysCigar]

The government is in bed with Microsoft, has been for years. How is this not a conflict of interests? How is this not straight up nepotism?

They do this kind of thing all the time at that level, looking after their buddies. (See: Ursula Von Der Leyen (AKA Ursula Fond o' Lyin') and her hubby's links during the vaccine rollout). Why should congress waste the tax payer's time and money dwelling on what happens in a foreign market that may or may not hinder the progress of a company that happens to be American? It's outside of their jurisdiction. Which is why it's plain to see it serves the interests of the individuals in congress rather than the American citizens...

[neutralgamer1992]

And why did Microsoft buy zenimax and Activision along with 10+ other developers ?

US congressmen can't work on bill that could be improving American lives, we still have homeless people under the bridges, many of whom served in the military but instead these congressmen areworried about japanese gaming market. This is all Microsoft and their resources talking

[bleedsoe9mm]

It's about time somebody is looking into Sony's business practices

[isarai]

It's not like they keep exclusivity deals private lol

[lelo2play]

Actually, they do keep those deals private... so does Microsoft and Nintendo.

[shinoff2183]

What about ms practices. I do believe they have 3rd party exclusives to

[BrainSyphoned]

Ya their practices of not giving money to politicians like MS sure is suspicious.

[TheRunup57]

By "somebody" you mean paid for politicians MS has in their back pocket, of course.

[bleedsoe9mm]

Quite literally the design of representational government

[ActualEngineer]

As stated by sony themselves, they spend 2.5 million a year lobying in the US. Quite crying.

[S2Killinit]

@bleedsoe9mm
Oh god, “representational government” was not meant for lobbyists. Lol

The reason your politicians are the best money can buy is because of little case called Federal Election commission vs. Citizens United where they inadvertently openned the floodgates of corporate shills when they ruled that a corporation was a “person”. This resulted in corporations being able to “donate” money to politicians in the same way mom and pop could. As if both mom and pop and a corporation had the same financial might. That is why you got corrupt politicians like the ones MS is sicking on Sony at the moment.

[frostypants]

LOL...this is Congressmen doing it for campaign support. It's called legal bribery.

[S2Killinit]

Lmao ok

[ChasterMies]

You don’t see clickbait articles on this daily?

[Rude-ro]

It is all out there to see..
The Japanese cutler spends money on reliable long lasting items.

All stems from Microsoft’s faulty hardware that built distrust with said market.

You are just reading an article payed for by Microsoft’s money doing everything to get the deal done.

Lack of game making and lack of reliability on their hardware is why they do not do well in markets with a culture that looks for the complete opposite of what Microsoft offers.

That and Microsoft’s stigma of being cruel and shady to competitors through many tactics.
They just are not liked.

Spilt blood does not get anyone any sympathy.

[gangsta_red]

Looks like Sony's crying and complaining about MS to the FTC has shifted some unwanted eyes on them.

[LOGICWINS]

You play with fire long enough, you'll eventually get burnt.

[darkrider]

And Microsoft is burned beyond belief. That's why it's in last place, their games don't sell, their services floped and are spending 80 billions on publishers... Scary stuff

[Eonjay]

We are seeing the power of money in action. Why would US Senators be concerned over the failings of a trillion dollar company's venture in Japan? Because when you can buy Senators, you can use the government as a vehicle to look at things that tax payors probably don't care about. Instead of gun violence we have our senators trying to fight on behalf of the richest of the rich.

[Redemption-64]

Am sure the MS donations checks have cleared. This does absolutely nothing and I guarantee you, tje Japanese government will pretend these politicians don't exist

[gangsta_red]

"Am sure the MS donations checks have cleared"

Ah yes, it was all fair and square when the attention and focus was on MS...now it's bribes and corruption when questions are asked about Sony.

[Redemption-64]

@gangsta_red
https://twitter.com/stephen...

The 1st lady that came up literally has Microsoft as one of her biggest donors

Anyway Mr. Bot, you are welcome.

[bleedsoe9mm]

1st off MS employees are her biggest contributors. 2nd it literally her job to look out for the well being of her constituents. If there is nothing untoward in Sony business nothing will come of it.

[Crows90]

Probably for the best. These politicans arent entirely right in the head anyways. ITs funny though to see some suddenly care about these politicans judgements.

[Redemption-64]

@bleedsoe9mm

You mean the same business practices that Microsoft themselves take part in, from having a history of paying for exclusive content to full and timed exclusive deals? I wouldn't be surprised if these politicians knew MS does they same things, but they look the other way then the check clears

"well being of her constituents", I didn't know her constitutes included those in Japan. Microsoft is the one who refuses to advertise Xbox games and consoles in Japan, they don't want to invest in the Japanese market, they don't want to make games that appeals to the Japanese, but here they are crying to politicians, who receive money from them and who are too stupid to do basic research and regurgitate whatever lies MS tell them. There are many Japanese gamer/content creators on Twitter who have spoken about how there is almost no marketing of Xbox from Microsoft in Japan. Tell me, how do you expect to grow in a market that you intentionally refuse to invest. I guess make a few donations to politicians and tell them Sony and the Japanese government are making things difficult for you. Right?

[gerbintosh]

@bleedsoe9mm

So you are saying that for the last 20 years no senator in WA state gave a shit about Microsoft and Xbox until now? It is not like the Xbox was not getting their asses handed to them in Japan, with Europe right behind, for the last 10 years. Where were the senators then? It is pretty obvious that after the acquistion decison all of these senators complaining will go away since they will stop being paid

[gangsta_red]

@redemption

Oh yeah, it's not like Sony doesn't also donate money to lobbyists for their own interests. Here's something to gurgle on...

https://www.washingtonexami...

"Sony donated nearly $750,000 to candidates and spent more than $5.5 million on lobbying in the last two years — almost all directed to Democrats, and it has a reputation of successfully using its money to buy their support."

https://www.opensecrets.org...

https://twitter.com/SenWarr...

https://twitter.com/SenSand...

Always a pleasure.

[Huey_My_D_Long]

Lol How much money do you want to put on that these politicians all have donations from Microsoft.
Really sad how even when obvious people are bought, people will still back them.
You can support the deal going through, without thinking Politicians coming to defend their financial backers is just those politicians really concerned about Sony market share.

[darkrider]

A lot. That's why the majority of gamers don't like Microsoft. And never will. It's a scummy company that always tries to get monopoly and force people into get their stuff.

[gangsta_red]

And you really believe Sony donated $0 to American politicians? Sony who's market also includes Hollywood TV/movies, music and real estate in the states?

What about the politicians that supported the FTC in blocking the deal? Most, if not all of them were democrats, the main party Sony donated to.

Should we also bet that they were also paid off by Sony?

https://www.opensecrets.org...

[TheRunup57]

When will you xbox fanboys stop crying and complaining about anything and everything Sony says or does?

[darkrider]

Nope, not really. This is just desperation from Microsoft. Anybody with half a brain doesn't eat this

[Christopher]

This is performative and nothing else. Just look at who leads it - Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and "A letter to Tai and Raimondo from six Democratic lawmakers from Washington state — where Microsoft is based — covers similar ground."

And the questions they rise here aren't at all done by Microsoft in the past either. It's a problem when Sony makes a third-party deal, not when Microsoft does it?

This is just more pressure from Microsoft to try and make Sony look bad so they can get the ABK deal done.

***The Republican letter alleges that Sony PlayStation has 98% of the “high-end console market in Japan,” signs deals designed to keep hit Japanese games from Microsoft’s Xbox, and says such moves “may violate Japan’s antitrust laws.”

"Article 8 of the 2019 U.S.-Japan Digital Trade Agreement calls for the countries to enable “non-discriminatory treatment of digital products” which would include games."***

This doesn't apply to licensing agreements. Otherwise, they're trying to tear down how licensing agreements work and would upend the whole industry for video games, streaming services, and more. It's not discriminatory to make licensing deals. It's discriminatory to overprice content on a competing platform.

By this logic, Sony can't have their own exclusives on their own platform if it comes to the U.S.

This is dumb.

Let alone, they are attempting to remove Nintendo and the PC market as a whole, both of which dwarf the PS market in japan, from the conversation entirely. In the competition for “high-end console market in Japan,” it's only Microsoft and Sony. And it's because of non-discriminatory treatment of digital products that did that? Can Microsoft point to us on the timeline of all consoles sales in Japan where they weren't beaten by Sony entirely at similar levels? Is there a metric where, suddenly, Sony started beating the big contender that was Microsoft in Japan?

[sparky77]

"Let alone, they are attempting to remove Nintendo and the PC market as a whole" Sony did this not MS, Sony.

The only reason there has been any opposition to the ABK deal is because Sony made up this "high-end market". Now it is being used against them.

[Christopher]

Incomparable.

1. Sony and Microsoft are direct competitors. Fact.

2. These congresspeople claim that Japan, the nation as a whole, are working to limit American video game business in their country, irrespective of the current ABK item or Sony alone.

3. Instead of comparing the nation as a whole, they then make it just about Sony.

4. In Japan, Nintendo is larger than Sony in the $2.7b console market, PC accounts for $3.8b of the market and dwarfs the last two, while mobile is at $29b.

5. Among those markets represented in Japan, Sony is the smallest of them, and yet it is Sony that is limiting growth for Microsoft in Japan and not the fact that their single competition at a specific value itself is losing in the market as a whole because of shifts to other platforms.

6. I'll leave you with this fact "The Xbox Series X/S has sold more than 100,000 units in Japan, according to the local industry bible Famitsu. This is at a much faster rate than for its predecessor the Xbox One, which took four and a half years to reach this figure."

[TheRunup57]

I know you guys have had a rough couple of decades but you really need to relax, you guys are going to have an aneurysm with all your Sony hate.

[Extermin8or3_]

Different markets in the west the comparison of Microsoft and Sony is a valid one excluding nintendo- because that's how our market behaves and how consumers view it by and large. In Japan a different market consumers behave differently and such a comparison is not valid. In Japan Nintendo is very much a competitor of Sony and actually has larger market share.

[Ryuk_2007]

Microsoft doesn't care about the Japanese home console market. There isn't much of one left to begin with.

It's about Sony getting exclusive games developed in Japan that sell in the rest of the world.

Sony pushed a narrow definition of the market to stop the AKB merger and Ms is going to use it against them to look into exclusive deals from large Japanese publishers/potentially block acquisitions or potentially be ready to fight for future acquisitions of their own.

This could be the framework MS uses to justify the purchase of a Square/Sega/Capcom down the road.

Defining the market as high-end home gaming consoles only was extremely short sighted of Sony and MS is absolutely going to use that to frame this as a David vs Goliath story with regulators for years to come.

[Christopher]

***It's about Sony getting exclusive games developed in Japan that sell in the rest of the world.***

Versus Microsoft getting exclusive games developed in the U.S. that sell in the rest of the world?

***Sony pushed a narrow definition of the market to stop the AKB merger and Ms is going to use it against them to look into exclusive deals from large Japanese publishers/potentially block acquisitions or potentially be ready to fight for future acquisitions of their own.***

Sure. How about we do the same with Microsoft and the West? Why do people think there's only one snake in this game? Both companies are the same. 100%. But let's act like only Sony's actions matter? Hypocrisy or just purposeful blindness. Tired of people acting like either of these companies aren't doing the same thing and acting like Sony is getting its comeuppance by letting a company centralize a massive portion of the industry and encourage even more centralization by other companies moving forward.

***Defining the market as high-end home gaming consoles only was extremely short sighted of Sony and MS is absolutely going to use that to frame this as a David vs Goliath story with regulators for years to come.***

Calling the 3rd most valuable company in the world that is worth over 10x the other company and that is spending $70b to "compete" David in this scenario is the most asinine thing I've read about this subject in a very long while.

[Ryuk_2007]

Christopher M$ doesn't own 98% of the console market in the west like Sony does in Japan. Flip the script for a second and reverse the roles

M$ owns 98% of the console space in the US.
Pays US developers not to release games on PlayStation/Ps plus while money-hatting triple A titles.
The U.S blocks Sony from buying American devs/pubs but okays M$ to buy Japanese ones.
Japan calls out the US for not doing anything about M$ anticompetitive practices.

See where this is going?

[Christopher]

Sony doesn't own 98% of the market in Japan. They in fact are losing to Nintendo. In fact, the games that Microsoft wants to talk about have become much more profitable in the West and Sony doesn't make games for Japan, but the West.

[CBaoth]

Sony doesn't control 98% of ANY market. You're as dumb as the congressmen. Now all of a sudden, a 2 trillion dollar company can't compete with a 20 billion dollar one. Maybe if your little plastic box wasn't managed by the folks on Sesame street, they wouldn't have to buy up publishers. Who was the genius who thought making a low income console was a good idea? Oh I know the same dummy who thought IndiePass was a great idea. MS continually shoot themselves in the foot. Xbox one launching with Kinect anyone? Anyone?

[Extermin8or3_]

Except the eu and cma ultimately didn't go eith that definition.

[Extermin8or3_]

Oh also I gotta point out if we want to talk monopoly well every pc comes with xbox gaming pre installed. Look at steam players literally 98% of them have a Windows pc. Factor in those numbers. Steam and epic games don't come pre-installed. I see no adverts for them on the OS. I do however see adverts about xbox games and games pass at an OS level..... hmmm.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

You wish!

[Lifexline]

That’s what people need to realize that’s anti competitive no matter whether Sony or Microsoft does it or Nintendo. A big brand like final fantasy should stay multiplatform. Because it used to be it’s the same argument with Bethesda and activision that MS is taking away games that were available to PlayStation. especially if they have a history of starting multiplatform. I understand small developers who financially can’t those cases are fine. But square Enix they have the money.

Just because something is “standard” doesn’t meant it’s right and should be allowed. If we are really worried about the consumers then these “standard” practices maybe need to be changed. There are so many things In history that were “standard” that are not anymore because it wasn’t right.

[shinoff2183]

Sony bought what is probably timed exclusive of ff16 and you equate it as fair that ms bought 2 publishers. 1 game as opposed to the 100s of what ms will recieve exclusive now. Wtf wheres the sense. Yall fighting bs trying to down play ms actions over Sony having 3 exclusives mostly timed

[Lifexline]

@shinoff well usually when you buy something you can do as you please with it. Sony has done it, Nintendo has as well. That’s the point of buying something. It’s yours to do as you please. It’s not like someone held a gun at these companies to sell it wasn’t a hostile takeover.

But paying for timed exclusives or games to keep off competitors platform should be an outdated practice for everyone. Especially to pay a developer to keep a game off a platform. Timed exclusives although it sucks at least eventually you will get the game so that’s not that big of a deal but the other is it’s simply spiteful.

Also it’s not just one or three games it’s been a lot of games that they have done to each other that shouldn’t be allowed.

[Hofstaderman]

They were never multiplatform. They always released on one console and from a certain point (I think FF7) came out on pc a year or so afterwards and then, not all of them. XBOX had FF titles and they sold dismally on that platform.

[Lifexline]

@hof wasn’t FF 13 multiplatform and didn’t the Xbox version sell over 2 million copies considering it released later then the PlayStation version and shipped on four discs That’s impressive. Most games don’t sell that much yes the majority of sales were on PlayStation but who knows if it would have sold more if it released simultaneously as the PlayStation version.

But because of Sony’s anticompetitive practices we won’t know. that’s like killzone and resistance sales. So are those franchises failures? 2 millions is nothing to scoff at most games are lucky to get sales like that. If square released a final fantasy game at the same time worldwide who knows how well it might sale but because Sony always blocks the release in Japan to be released at the same time we will never know.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Whelp you guys should after nintendo by your logic tbh.

[CrimsonWing69]

How so?

What has come out about Nintendo? Literally all the claims against Sony are in court documents and can be read by the public.

I haven’t seen anything on Nintendo.

[badz149]

Nintendo is an outsider in this because ActiBliz is not as important to Nintendo as they are to Sony. but they can't just omit Nintendo when talking about the video game market as a whole, especially Japan. sure Sony is outselling MS heavily over there but it's for pennies compared to what Nintendo is making out of that market. and since when has xbox ever was a success over there? if the market discrepancy in Japan is gonna be questioned, are they gonna investigate the other markets as well? last time I checked, the xbox is being heavily outsold by PS everywhere all around the world! the difference in Japan alone can't make up that >10mil deficit the Series consoles are behind the PS5.

they can't accept the reality that the xbox is not that desirable outside the US and now is blaming Sony for their own incompetence!

[Chevalier]

Wait so Nintendo isn't included to skew the sales towards Playstation. But when Microsoft needs to include them for 10 year COD they do count? Awfully convenient to count and then not count them right?

[CrimsonWing69]

@Chevalier

What have they skewed to PlayStation in terms of sales?

[Ryuk_2007]

"Sony defined the high-performance console category when it suited them, now that it doesn't suit it's like... no no no you can't use our own bs against us". lmao

[lodossrage]

How are Sony "unfairly" hurting Microsoft Japan?

Sony doesn't tell Microsoft to not advertise in Japan, Microsoft does that themselves.
Sony doesn't tell Microsoft to not make games that cater to the Japanese audience, Microsoft does that themselves.

And I love how they act like Mobile, PC, and Nintendo don't exist in Japan.

We already know Sen. Maria Cantwell gets campaign money from Microsoft, so I wonder just how many others of these 11 lawmakers have Microsoft on their donor list.

All I'm going to say is since money talks and a trillion dollar company can do whatever it wants, that opens the flood gates for others to buy up portions of the industry. And when Sony and Nintendo start doing it, they shouldn't have any complaint.

[Battlestar23]

Hopefully they force Sony to cancel all 3rd party deal with devs and publishers so they can be free to release their games on Xbox. I want FFXVI on gamepass day one in June while PS gamers can pay full price for it.

Sony should never of tried to fight MS on the home turf in the USA by trying to block the activision deal. Sony is like the fools knight who spent his life savings on the best looking suit of armor he could find to fight a sleeping dragon only to wake the sleeping dragon and now are themselves cornered by the superior opponent.

It's Sony's fault that the xbox isn't selling well in Japan by making games exclusive to PS there and outside Japan too.
Hopefully these members of congress force Japan to undo the law that forbids an American company from buying a Japanese one.

MS should be allowed to buy up the likes of Capcom, Sega and Square Enix to they can release all their games to all gamers everywhere.

[jznrpg]

Those games are available everywhere already . I don’t hear MS fans crying about MS paying for Valheim, Stalker2 , Scorn , The Medium etc etc.

[Charlieboy333]

@jznrpg The difference is that Sony picks quality games to be their exclusives while Microsoft selects below average / average level games for their customers. That's what pisses them off, but it sure as hell aint Sony's fault that they have a good eye for and taste in games while Phil praises shit like Crackdown 3 and Craig Infinite.

[Christopher]

*** I want FFXVI on gamepass day one in June while PS gamers can pay full price for it.***

I'm pro Microsoft spending money to benefit Microsoft, anti Sony spending money to benefit Sony.

***It's Sony's fault that the xbox isn't selling well in Japan by making games exclusive to PS there and outside Japan too.***

Like last year's best-selling Japanese game, Elden Ring. And Resident Evil. And Monster Hunter. And Tales. And Dragon Quest. And Yakuza. And Tekken. And Kingdom Hearts. And Sonic. And Persona.

[Chevalier]

Just like how Nintendo doesn't count in the scheme of things to skew sales towards Playstation by not counting Nintendo. But when they need back up to show how they will expand the market for consumers that 10 year deal with Nintendo does count. Awfully convenient.

Would be like if Japan suddenly that obscure Japanese shows don't represent even 5 percent of content viewed in the U.S. where 95 of the content is dominated by American content. It's obviously unfair and Americans are preventing 'fair' competition right? Yeah equally stupid as arguing a American product that for decades doesn't sell well so blame the Japanese.

[Redemption-64]

I cannot say if this is pure ignorance or just plain stupidity at this point.

[Hypertension140]

These comments man, you Xbox fanboys truly make me sick.
At least some of you are finally admitting you what playstation gone for good, that's the only reason you what Microsoft to buy all these studios.
Most of you won't even be playing half of the games they'll release.

[SoulWarrior]

They are like the Borg collective, brainwashed by Phil, turned in to gamepass drones.

[shinoff2183]

Battlestar23

"I want ff16 on gamepass day one"

First you sound like an entitled little baby. Wtf

Second ff16 you know squares biggest ip was never ever ever ever going to gamepass day one. Screw your head back on right.

Third. I want starfield, new fallout, wastelands, stalker 2, on ps. I'm even to willing to buy at full price and not demand it on ps plus day one because that's logical. Ms at this moment has broke most of the Xbox gamers imo. They don't buy games and expect everything handed to them on a platter. Good luck in life Lil guy

[Elda]

LMAO!! FFXVI going to GP day one?? Keep dreaming that delusional dream.

[jznrpg]

That’s the stupidest thing ever. Xbox has no appeal in Japan because they dont make games that appeal to the Japanese market . They barely make games that appeal to the American or world market . They have to buy them they don’t make them . On top of that Nintendo dominates the Japanese market . PS has a good presence but nowhere near Nintendo

[kingnick]

"They barely make games that appeal to the American or world market."

Has to be one of thew stupidest takes I've read on N4G in a long time.

[franwex]

The good old Lobbyist to the rescue I see.

[kingnick]

Elected officials in the Japanese government look out for Japanese companies and are far more protectionist, consider the the history of keiretsu in Japan. Sony was a keiretsu but they're far less diverse in terms of business units these days and have less influence then they once had with government.

South Korea decided to copy Japan's keiretsu with their chaebols that were also allowed to get away with anti-competitive practices. Contrast that with the Chinese where every company shamelessly rips off other companies and unless a particular company gains favour with the CCP nothing is done to police IP infringement.

In the west we have the same anti-competitive conglomerates like Microsoft.

Most big businesses regardless of their origins are anti-competitive because it works since most fines are so small they aren't even a slap on the wrist.

[Justo909]

LMAO! booohoo no one is buying our ekk bok in Japan its unfair give us final fantasy XDXDXDXD

[akurtz]

Aaah government intervention, democrat or Republican is always bad. Getting their hands in every little thing.

[ironmonkey]

same ol group waa waa ing around. third place aint fun.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Asia has always been protected, but they want free access to Western markets.

[UltimateRacer]

Lol the Japanese government are pissing themselves laughing at Congress right now.

[kingnick]

They're been laughing for decades now because the west was dumb enough to drop protections for many of their industries and let entire industries die while Japan openly protected and in some cases actively propped up Japanese industries and businesses that would have otherwise failed or died even sooner due to competition from China and other countries.

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

Eleven?

How do they feel about Xbox’s promises to deliver games?

[rlow1]

First of all, these companies have enough money and power to compete against one another for any market in the world, including Japan. If PlayStation enjoys some extra advantages in Japan over MS, then the US government needs to provide that proof. Politicians who probably don’t know alot about the gaming business (FTC, cough) shouldn’t be pressuring other governments without verifiable proof, anything else is just rhetoric.

[shinoff2183]

I agree with you rlow1

[kingnick]

I don't think the governments should be getting involved in trying to force games to be available on all platforms with the same content and features etc but blatant anti-competitive practices should be looked at.

[rlow1]

I agree with going after anti competitive practices. Which all countries on friendly trading terms have a right to voice. But they need to provide actual instances of violations per the agreements in place. If they have that proof then fine, but if they don’t then it’s just grandstanding.

[Haki1112]

We already knew this!

[tay8701]

How many of them are on MS's payroll? Seriously just stop. Xbots do not buy jrpgs. Point in case FF7 crisis core remake launched on all 3 platforms and sold absolutely horrid on Xbox. Why should square or any other Japanese company spend time, money and resources if you all aren't going to buy it. If you want to play FF16, stop crying and buy a ps5. Also if MS wants to actually sell consoles in Japan, how about making a game that caters to them. Oh wait they have tried that before when blue dragon and lost odyssey were made exclusively for xbox and they both bombed.

[Drithe]

Go! Go! American gaming! Sony has been on a ban lately. They hate anime with big boobs. Screw you Sony!

[InUrFoxHole]

True. I agree

[repsahj]

This is getting ridiculous. Now even politicians from America are getting involved. Very one-sided, money talks really. Ok, let them have activision, after the acquisition I will stop playing COD.

[Soulsborne]

Should have died with the lunchbox one.
Stick to mobile and PC game pass fodder.

[shaenoide]

The same people of Congress about TikTok?

[DarthZoolu]

If you are intelligent and have just a little bit of knowledge about how the world actually works, you know that Sony does business in a very xenophobic way!

[shaenoide]

Congress is just defending American interests and hegemony.

After Cambridge Analytica Meta should have been banned and yet Congress is crusading against Tiktok.

[ChiefofLoliPolice]

No Xbox has just always sucked in Japan. It's been like that for decades.

[Charlieboy333]

If Sony is unfairly hurting Xbox in Japan, then Nintendo must be gang-banging Xbox

[EvertonFC]

No wonder America is in such a state 🤔😔

[LoveSpuds]

Sadly, our very own UK has gone down the exact same sewer when it comes to political corruption.

[EvertonFC]

Agreed, infact every country is fu*ked following this pathetic political system we all live in.

[DaniMacYo]

Microsoft has enough deep pockets to make this plausible.

[Elda]

LMAO!! Nobody's fault but MS/XB. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

[FallenAngel1984]

Xbox is hurting Xbox in Japan

[Gravesinger_]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHA Sony and Jim Ryan wanted the smoke so here we are. I need to get more popcorn

[Gamer_Dude]

Guess it worked. "Japan Fair Trade Commission has cleared Microsoft Activision Blizzard Deal"

[StarkR3ality]

Well I mean, when you're accusing another company, an American one at that of unfair competition. Then it comes to light you're doing things like charging companies to release games on Xbox, or putting in contract clauses you can't release games on Xbox game pass, and trying to force companies like Epic who enable cross play to keep online currency they purchase only available on their platform if bought on a playstation when still taking their cut of the revenue.

I love my PS5 and I love the games Sony make, but if you think there's a good and a bad guy in this argument then you need to get a better grasp of reality, these are both companies who aren't adverse to putting dirty business practices in place. Morality isn't something these guys believe in clearly.

[Moonwalker00]

I find it odd that ps only owners were speaking a different tune when it came to MS purchasing ABK but now they are saying something different when it's been known for years the poor practices of Sony towards competition.

[StarkR3ality]

Yeah's it's hypocrisy mate if you're against this shit, then you're against it. Don't excuse one company and then say it's okay for someone else, can't be a one way street.

What are you all, modern day feminists?

[Moonwalker00]

Couldn't agree more. I guess all these people complaining run multi-billion pound/dollar corporations so they know best as to what is fair and what's not.

[gold_drake]

this is the dumbest thing ever.
Nintendo dominates the japanese market, not sony.

akso, why are they worried about japans market? arent they americans? this has nothing to do with the Deal at all.

akso, MS underperforming in Japan is MS's issue and fault, no one elses lol.

[2moda5gamer]

America understands Japanese gamers in Japan just as much as Japan understands Americans shooting Americans in public.

Neither know shit and should keep out of the others business.

[Shane Kim]

Unfairly? They dominate Japan because japanese gamers don't buy xbox.

[ravens52]

Microsoft will be the downfall of the gaming industry.

[OG_TK_Cole]

Im not picking a side on this because im a "GAMER" who games on all Consoles and PC. With that being said, who didnt see this coming. The Government of The United States was holding this argument in their back pocket for years, and they were waiting for the right time to put pressure on the Japanese Government. Just like they did in the late 1980s when Honda Motor Co Ltd, had American Automobile manufacturers looking terrible. You see how that ended up. America made them a offer they couldnt refuse.

Im not saying the same thing is going to happen here, but there is a solid chance something might happen.

[Lexreborn2]

Probably have as good reasoning as they did similar to the TikTok questions… MS paying lobbyists shows some of the biggest issues US has

[pitythefool]

Who’s to blame for Xbox getting molly whopped world wide for years then, bet it was the nargles.

[Eonjay]

So here we go blaming Sony for Microsoft's failures... again.

[anast]

An MS backed government is crying about games in Japan...nice. They should go after Nintendo too. Congress is full of jesters, dirtbags and idiots.

[gazgriff2k12]

CRYING BABY EMOJI

[darkrider]

This is nothing more then Microsoft paying to get the Activision deal approved. Scary stuff. Microsoft is really a rotten company. Anything it touches becomes trash.

[Binarycode]

I'm still laughing at when XBOX fans were screaming from the hilltops that they had a 12tflop machine and Sony's was 10.2 lol. Yet Sony's machine bests it all the time. Framerate, throughput i/o controller, sound.

I don't give a toss about COD. btw.

About practices. When the 360 came out, MS were slagging off the PS3 for a year before it even came out, it was comical. They had films mention the 360 and halo, but the propaganda was unreal.

Yet the 360 had 13million RROD consoles.

and the PS3 still outsold the 360 while having free online. lol.

[Thundercat77]

In other words

Microsoft: we suck in gaming and we need government help to punish those who have been doing a great job.

Xbox is a cancer to the gaming industry.

[Knightofelemia]

Everybody knows that American consoles don't do well in Japan just ask Atari. Japanese will always flock to Nintendo, Sega when they built consoles, NEC again when they made consoles, and now Sony.

[kayoss]

People who think Sony is preventing Microsoft to succeed in Japan have no clue what they’re talking about. Are you also saying that Sony is also preventing the Xbox to succeed in Europe, Asia, South America, etc… as well? If you listen to this woman, you’re as delusional as her.
If this is the case, I guess Apple iPhone was preventing the Microsoft Lumia from succeeding in the United States as well, by her logic.

[YourMommySpoils]

Here we go again lol

[Pocahontas]

Microsoft is too big to fail. Wonder how many pockets are lined.

[on_line_forever]

Microsoft can't play fair

[Flakegriffin]

Microsoft is paying these governmental officials to help give Sony bad rep and to attack them.

Keep trying, it’s comical.

[DynDasE]

It is Microsoft who cannot penetrate the Japanese market since Xbox 360 when Microsoft bought exclusives from Japanese developers left and right. Now, they are blaming their failure on Sony.
This is pathetic.

[COS]

Have to smile a bit, Sony just sh*t the bed on the AB Deal. The deal is going through, Sony looks like the little boy who cried wolf, and their poor legal maneuvers completely backfired. Now it looks like they will actually get some heat in Japan. I think this will do little to move that market to xbox, but it will be fun to watch the drama continue.

Say all the hate you want about MS, but they handled this legal process like a champ and came out looking better for it, offering gaming to more platforms than if Sony just shut their mouth. See, competition can be a good thing!

[terstomp]

The US Gov supporting the US corporation again while crapping on a non-US corporation because they are too competitive. This is standard US behaviour to compete by banning and sanctioning other country's companies.