US senator says Sony has ‘monopoly’ on high-end Japanese game market

A new player has entered the never-ending saga of Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell (who represents Washington state) weighed in on the topic today in a confusing way.

Seen on ResetEraThe senator made some comments during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the “President’s 2023 Trade Policy Agenda,” which we’re sure was very interesting.

Senator Cantwell said he was “informed that Sony monopolizes 98% of the high-end game market, yet the Japanese government engages in blatant anti-competitive behavior through exclusive deals to Sony and payments to game publishers. allowed to happen, which established the games. are the most popular in Japan.”

This is a 98% figure Quite misleading, ignoring PC, Nintendo and mobile gamesAnd instead cites Sony’s adoption rate over Microsoft in Sony’s home territory of Japan, a revelation that should come as no surprise to anyone even moderately familiar with the video game industry.

After accusing Japan’s Federal Trade Commission of failing to properly investigate this alleged “abuse,” he asked U.S. Trade Representative Catherine Tai, “What do you think we should do to resolve these issues and What can be done to create a level playing field?”

as the Luke Plunkett on Kotaku explains it correctlyIt’s ridiculous to suggest that Sony has some kind of monopoly on the Japanese game market because “Sony doesn’t even have 98% of the market for God of War, a series They are the ownersBecause Steam is getting 30% of every sale on PC.”

Obviously, we can’t expect elected officials to be experts in everything, but it’s certainly a worthwhile step during a fairly critical moment in the ongoing acquisition effort.

Is it relevant that Microsoft (not to mention Nintendo) is Senator Cantwell’s district is headquartered in Redmond, WAOr Microsoft has Cantwell contributed more than half a million dollars In the last two decades? We’ll let you decide.

What do you think of Senator Cantwell’s comments? Let us know in the comments section below.