Congress Probes Sony's Alleged Anti-Competitive Tactics in Japan

Microsoft has welcomed an investigation into Sony's "anti-competitive tactics" in Japan, following concerns raised by 11 members of Congress that Sony is unfairly hurting Xbox in the "imbalanced" Japanese game market. It is alleged that Sony pays third-party game publishers not to make their content available on Xbox and negotiates exclusivity arrangements that keep the most popular games in Japan off Xbox. Microsoft's government affairs team has reportedly discussed these issues with members of Congress. Meanwhile, the Japan Fair Trade Commission has stated that Microsoft's takeover of Activision Blizzard "would not substantially restrain competition in certain fields of trade".