Sen.
Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) criticized Sony Interactive Entertainment's "monopoly" control of the high-end gaming market during a hearing Thursday and called on U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to press Japan on the issue during ongoing trade talks.
"I'm told that Sony controls a monopoly of 98% of the high-end game market, yet Japan's government has allowed Sony to engage in blatant anti-competitive conduct through exclusive deals and payments to game publishers," Cantwell said during a Senate Finance Committee hearing.
Cantwell noted that Japan's Fair Trade Commission has "failed to investigate these exclusionary conducts" before posing a question to Tai: "So what do you think we can do to [better] address these issues and create a level playing field with the [Indo-Pacific Economic Framework] on something as important as this issue?"
Tai declined to discuss Sony directly but noted that IPEF, an economic initiative that includes Japan and 12 others countries in the region, is expected to address both competition and digital issues. "That is absolutely an area that we are primed to address," Tai said. "This one is new for me, but let me take this back."
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