In another twist on the surreal, the Biden administration is now under pressure from members of Congress on both sides of the political aisle to take decisive action over the supposed “monopoly” that PlayStation exercises in the Japanese video game market.
Some have asked to read this, as it all stems from comments Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash) made to US Trade Representative Catherine Tai on Friday regarding a supposed imbalance in the Japanese high-end gaming market that is negatively affecting American companies.
like Reported by AxiosNow 10 additional members of Congress have articulated their concerns in two letters, one each from Republicans and Democrats.
It is worth noting that seven of the ten representatives are from Washington, the home of Microsoft. Additionally, the company is Cantwell’s largest political donor, after it broke up More than half a million dollars over the past few decades.
Both characters have a different political angle, as you might imagine, and they both cite that misleading “98% of the high-end video game market” figure, which completely ignores the brutal influence of PC, mobile, and Nintendo. The latter is kind of important too, with the Switch being the console that actually dominates the territory in reality.
In related news, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is no longer concerned about Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which means that the company’s proposed acquisition is likely to go through now.
With both Democrats and Republicans calling for an investigation into Sony’s alleged unfair business practices, we imagine it won’t be the last time we hear about this particular matter. What do you think of this whole affair? Document a previous response in the comments section below.