Sony recently unveiled a new slogan for its PlayStation gaming console, “Play Has No Limits.” Given Sony’s latest behavior, a more apt tagline for the company might be, “Our Shady Behavior Has No Limits.”
The electronics manufacturer/entertainment company has racked up a long list of troubling schemes to influence the government and manipulate the marketplace for its own purposes.
For example, Sony executive Michael Lynton asked Democrat Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas for his “help” in getting taxpayers to cover the tab for redesigning the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Lynton was, at the time, a trustee of the museum.
They agreed Sony would “donate” $25,000 to Ridley-Thomas’ favorite political action committee. The donation — three times larger than for any other candidate running for office that year — was made one month after the election, assuring voters would not know about it before Election Day. Shortly afterward, Sony got what it paid for; taxpayers picked up a $125 million tab to redesign the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Ridley-Thomas was later charged with bribery and fraud as a result of the pay-to-play scheme.
In a different instance, Sony was fined $10 million for paying radio stations to give air time to artists in Sony’s catalog. At least this time, Sony was using its money to create an unfair advantage for itself, not the taxpayers.
But even the huge fine and a federal indictment of its political puppet haven’t changed Sony’s unspoken policy of using underhanded means to get what it wants.
Now Sony is using the Biden administration and the courts to create an unfair advantage over its chief rival, Microsoft.
Sony is manipulating the government to keep Microsoft from acquiring Activision. If Microsoft bought Activision, it would allow gamers to purchase games from more sources than just Sony’s PlayStation Store, which currently has a monopoly on the market. With no competition to drive down prices, Sony charges notoriously high prices to stream and download games.
Sony is attempting to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision by leveraging the muscle of the Biden administration, which shares its liberal political agenda. And it doesn’t hurt that Sony has contributed handsomely — and consistently — to liberal causes and Democratic lawmakers.
Ironically, the argument Sony is using to block the Activision purchase is the same claim critics are using against them. According to Sony, if Microsoft is allowed to acquire Activision, it would “enable Microsoft to suppress competitors.”
Yet Microsoft recently signed four deals proving the opposite intention. One agreement will allow Sony PlayStation users to access Call of Duty via the cloud-gaming service Ubitus. Microsoft has also signed a ten-year deal with Boosteroid to bring gaming titles — including fan favorites Call of Duty and Resident Evil 7 — to more gamers at lower prices.
Meanwhile, it was Sony that issued a corporate directive back in 2019 to forbid gaming stores from selling digital codes for games on the PlayStation Store, preventing them from being played by “unauthorized” users.
Sony’s actions were “specifically intended to and did eliminate price competition from other digital video game retailers,” a subsequent lawsuit argued. Gamers were forced “to pay a higher price for digital PlayStation games than they would in a free and unrestrained competitive retail market.”
Microsoft’s vice chairman and president, Brad Smith, told the Verge, “We continue to believe that this deal (to acquire Activision) will expand competition and create more opportunities for gamers and game developers.” This may explain why Sony is so determined to prevent it from moving forward.
Now it’s up to the Biden Administration and the courts to decide whether to use the power of government to protect the bottom line of their liberal ally, Sony, or to open up the video game marketplace to more choice and lower prices.
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