Sony has been a constant source of problems for Microsoft over the past year, but now it seems the tables have turned.
On April 13th, Kevin Cramer, a Republican Senator from North Dakota, wrote a letter to Sony's CEO, Kenichiro Yoshida, in which he expressed "concern about Sony's efforts to protect its gaming console business from competition." As per Axios' report, Cramer goes on to assert: I am concerned Sony's dominance of that market, and its efforts to perpetuate its current position imperils an important economic development opportunity for North Dakota.
Given the growing significance of the gaming industry to North Dakota, I am troubled by reports Sony appears to leverage its dominance to exclude competition rather than enabling choice for players and developers.
Increasingly, it appears Sony's dominance is attributable to exclusionary practices, including paying game publishers not to distribute thieir games on rival platforms. As per the US Senator, the gaming industry has a significant impact of $20.6 million on the economy of North Dakota as it supports 221 jobs, with the possibility of creating up to 6,320 jobs in the coming decade.