Gabriel Stanford-ReisingerSony has been taking stances against third-party PS4 controllers, but it appears the French authorities aren’t too keen on its stance. Basically, if you thought the third-parties’ felt worse, Sony has implemented a technical measure that makes these counterfeit controllers run worse than its first-party counterparts.
Competition Policy International reports that Autorité de la Concurrence, which handles the country’s anti-trust matters, has slapped the Japanese tech giant with a $14.8 million fine. The technical measures it singles out was initially added to the PS4 back in 2015.
The measure, coupled with its licensing policy being rather strict, raised red flags for the country’s government. Supposedly, Sony has refused to enter talks with companies or explain its licensing policy to any party outside of its partnership program.
While Sony hasn’t commented publicly, this may make it — and potentially cause ripples leading to more companies — a bit more transparent when it comes to third-party controller support.
What do you think? Are third-party controllers fine by you or do you think that extra money is worth the first-party branding? Let us know below!