The big three gaming titans, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, are currently under scrutiny of the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) branch, with an investigation having been opened in regards to the policies of their online services. According to the official press release, the CMA believes that the three aforementioned companies must be investigated to ensure that UK consumers are protected, and that the subscription services are legal within the country. Though there is no proof at this time that any laws have been broken, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft are required to respond to the UK government with information on their respective contracts, so that the CMA can research that the terms are fair. What they appear to be looking for are incidents where customers have had trouble cancelling the services, dealt with numerous price hikes, or were forced into having to turn on auto-renew. Once the investigation concludes, a decision will be made, and either nothing will occur, or the offending party will have action taken against them.

The CMA has written to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox requesting information about their online gaming contracts to help better understand their practices. It is also calling on customers who use these services to get in touch with the CMA and share their experiences in order to assist the investigation, which will examine several issues, including:

• are the contract terms unfair? - do the companies’ terms give them wide discretion to change the quality of the deal, for example, by reducing the number of games included or increasing the price?
  
  
• how easy it is to cancel or obtain a refund? - are there any factors that make it difficult for people to cancel their contract or get their money back?
  
  
• how fair is the auto-renewal process? - are customers clearly told that their membership will be rolled over, are they regularly reminded that they are on a roll-over contract before further payments are taken, and is auto-renewal set as the default option?
  

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[Deleted_413010]

microsoft, sony and ninty just act as a middle man in connecting you, afaik all first party ninty games use p23p instead of dedicated servers so even then you aren't paying for server costs.

Except, I'm not aware of Nintendo actually utilizing servers in any of their current online multiplayer titles on the Nintendo Switch.

As an actual developer of Nintendo titles (no i'm not saying I work for Nintendo i'm saying I develop titles for their systems) let me tell you they do use their own actual servers for stuff such as matchmaking but you can use your own servers if the developer prefers you just have to file that with Nintendo prior to publishing. Due to a non-disclosure agreement I have with Nintendo I am unable to disclose any information on names and etc relating to how Nintendo's servers operate.

 

[AceX]

As an actual developer of Nintendo titles

Just curious, what titles?

 

[Deleted_413010]

Just curious, what titles?

I am one of those new developers. So we have 1 title in development currently but a name has not been decided.

 

[RandomUser]

Makes me wonder if CMA is looking at subscribers getting banned? Does this entails on subscribers getting a pro-rated refund back for unused month that cannot be used due to a ban?
Not banned so y'all know.

 

[nashismo]

I am one of those new developers. So we have 1 title in development currently but a name has not been decided.

I wish you the very best! I don't have my Switch anymore but I remember he HD rumble was so awesome. I remember a small game called Xenodrifter, which I bought (didnt pirate) had this wonderfull rumble when you entered the water! It was so great!

Whatever you do, I hope you remember to implement and use the HD rumble! Cheers!

 

[Awesomekid956000]

LMFAO
Have you heard pc? gaming on pc is free tho, even they share same server.
The entire story to force people to pay for online is Bullshit

I have to also mention PC gaming can be quite a bit more expensive compared to get into compared to console gaming. Playstation is pushing it with the PS5 prices, but PC gaming is usually around maybe $500 compared to the standard console price of 300, unlike consoles though, the pc is more than capable of upgrading through minor adjustments such as graphics cards and junk. What im trying to say is you're practically owed free online play for how much you gotta dump into it.

 

[raxadian]

I have to also mention PC gaming can be quite a bit more expensive compared to get into compared to console gaming. Playstation is pushing it with the PS5 prices, but PC gaming is usually around maybe $500 compared to the standard console price of 300, unlike consoles though, the pc is more than capable of upgrading through minor adjustments such as graphics cards and junk. What im trying to say is you're practically owed free online play for how much you gotta dump into it.

Also, a lot of PC online gaming isn't free and if you play a lot of online games that require servers you are likely to waste more than what Nintendo charges you.