Several members of the American Congress, including both Republicans and Democrats, have recently been pushing for a more level playing field between PlayStation and Xbox in Japan. It’s worth noting that just days ago, Senator Maria Cantwell had criticized Sony’s overwhelming dominance in the Japanese market.
During a trade hearing, Senator Maria Cantwell grilled U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai on this issue. The Biden administration also received two letters aiming to bring the unbalanced Japanese video game market into the spotlight.
The first of these letters, signed by four Republicans, claims that Sony holds 98% of the “next-generation console market” in the country and engages in agreements to prevent successful Japanese games from being released on Xbox, violating antitrust laws on both sides of the Pacific.
“The effective non-prosecution policy of the Japanese government when it comes to Sony appears to be a serious barrier to U.S. exports, with real impacts for Microsoft and many American game producers and publishers who sell globally but see their gains in Japan diminished by these practices,” the letter continues.
The second letter, written by six Democrats, covers very similar ground. It references the U.S.-Japan Digital Trade Agreement and notes how the treaty requires Japan to provide “non-discriminatory treatment to U.S. digital products,” a clause that obviously includes games.
Sony has maintained a significant advantage over Microsoft in Japan for several decades. Nintendo naturally dominates the market, but the Switch is not considered a “top-tier console,” at least in the terms of the treaty.
Of course, all of this follows Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Both Microsoft and Sony have accused each other of market monopolization and properties. We’ll see what unfolds next.
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