Sony Fined $14 Million For Damaging Third-Party PlayStation Controllers

02.01.2024 - 15:31 / thegamer.com / Sony

Sony has been fined €13.5 million ($14.8 million) over claims that it damaged third-party PlayStation 4 controllers via a system update. French regulator Autorité de la Concurrence says that Sony abused its position in the industry to hurt the reputation of unofficial PS4 controllers, limiting their success.

The regulator is fining Sony for two infractions. One centres around a PS4 update from 2015, which caused unofficial controllers to "regularly disconnect". The industry giant is also being punished for "refusing to communicate" with third-party controller manufacturers seeking an official partnership, reducing the amount of PS4 controllers on the market.

The penalty relates to four years of practices from Sony and only pertains to its behaviour during the PlayStation 4 era. You can read the full findings here.

As initially reported by Competition Policy International (later picked up by VGC), Sony has not responded to news of its fine. The case only centres around controllers for Sony's previous generation console, PS4, and not any third-party dealings related to the PS5.

In the case of the system update, the regulator recognises that this was implemented to combat counterfeit goods, not all third-party controllers. However, this was found to have been a "disproportionate" response, since the effect it had on unofficial hardware damaged the reputation of non-Sony controllers. As a result of the update, it's said that third-party controllers faced constant disconnects, frustrating consumers.

Sony is also criticised for its unwillingness to work with companies that wanted to get their controllers officially licenced for release. "The Authority notes that by refusing to communicate to manufacturers who requested them the criteria for access to the OLP program, Sony was able to apply them in a discretionary manner, even though access to the latter was the only means of [avoiding] disconnections."

The regulator concludes that these two practices "significantly damaged" the market, and proves that Sony abused its position in the industry to discourage the sale of unofficial controllers. Sony has not responded to these findings.

While this only relates to the PS4, the availability of affordable controllers is an ongoing issue in this console generation too. Across the entire industry, first-party controllers are incredibly expensive, particularly compared to previous generations, with the DualSense often sold for more than $70. The Xbox equivalent can be found for around $10 cheaper, but it's still a tall order when consoles and games already cost so much. With this in mind, many may turn to third-party manufacturers for their second controllers, something that Sony seems eager to avoid.