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?
  

Source

 

[raxadian]

Despite the fact I am salty, Nintendo might only has to worry about the saves thing. Charging to play online is widely accepted.

Now... Sony and Microsoft... HAHAHA HAHA!

 

[tatripp]

do you really think nintendo, sony and microsoft need to worry about server costs? if they were smaller companies then sure, but they're all multi million dollar corporations

also lmao, nintendo, what servers?

and why can PC gaming sustain itself without these ridiculous fees? are there not server costs for PC games as well?

You sound pretty entitled. They are a business and have the right to make money. They can charge what they want for their service. They are offering an amazing service for a price that the market deems to be fair. If you don't like it, you don't have to pay for it. A lot of time and money went into creating their particular gaming ecosystem. If you like that aspect about PC gaming, then switch to a PC and never pay online subscriptions again.

 

[Kioku]

If you like that aspect about PC gaming, then switch to a PC and never pay online subscriptions again.

If only that were true..

 

[Sakitoshi]

All these people bitching about online services..... How about you just dont pay for them and dont use them. As for auto renew, dont use a credit card. For nintendos online i bought a $20 eshop card. cant auto renew that. Running an online service costs money. Nintendo has to pay a hosting company. you think the hosting company lets you have unlimited bandwidth for free?

don't know how is it on other platforms, but on playstation a month before auto-renew kicks in you are sent a notification (on the console and email) that is going to happen, so no excuse there. can't remember if auto-renew is on by default though.

 

[SG854]

do you really think nintendo, sony and microsoft need to worry about server costs? if they were smaller companies then sure, but they're all multi million dollar corporations

also lmao, nintendo, what servers?

and why can PC gaming sustain itself without these ridiculous fees? are there not server costs for PC games as well?

The costs usually gets passed on to the consumers in some way through DLC or something else. Some PC Games do charge for servers. And Nintendo's online is cheaper $20 compared to Sony or Microsoft.


Servers aren't cheap
Microsoft spends $700 million on there's, Sony $360 million
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/new...g-700-Million-to-Back-Xbox-Live-Cloud-Servers



PS4 has more online features then the PS3, adds to costs
https://www.destructoid.com/sony-explains-why-you-ll-have-to-pay-for-online-with-ps4-256158.phtml


PC Servers that don't have enough funding usually have problems
https://uk.pcmag.com/games/63755/server-login-problems-plague-diablo-3-launch-day
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/05/24/total-war-warhammer-suffers-server-issues-at-launch/
https://www.engadget.com/2012/12/14/gamespy-multiplayer-server-shutdown-result-of-failure-to-pay-by/



Being a multimillion dollar company means nothing if you don't know what the costs are. Difference between revenue and profit.
Money is also use to invest in other projects and game development.

A game costs around $10,000 per person per month using low numbers, can cost more in expensive area's. An indie studio with 5 workers working for 18 months will cost $900,000. A medium size studio working 24 months with 40 people will cost $9,600,000. A big publisher like Rockstar for Red Dead Redemption with 400 workers and 36 months, $144,000,000. And these are conservative numbers.
https://kotaku.com/why-video-games-cost-so-much-to-make-1818508211

This is just for development. This doesn't add costs of Marketing/PR, publishing, physical copy productions, government permits/licensing, tradmark, and so on, which will rack up costs even higher. Sony also produces more then just video games. They are based on more products to manage.

 

[DANTENDO]

don't know how is it on other platforms, but on playstation a month before auto-renew kicks in you are sent a notification (on the console and email) that is going to happen, so no excuse there. can't remember if auto-renew is on by default though.

https://support.playstation.com/s/a...ewal-for-Subscription-Services?language=en_US yep on by default I luv playstation but ther bastards doing this bet thers been thousands who hav paid a extra who didn't kno or forgot I forgot with ps now which I didn't want after my trail because at the time to me the service was bolox because games streamed at 720p on ps4 plus no digital surround sound

 

[Deleted User]

If you like that aspect about PC gaming, then switch to a PC and never pay online subscriptions again.

i've been using PC since like 2011

 

[Ra1d]

The costs usually gets passed on to the consumers in some way through DLC or something else. Some PC Games do charge for servers. And Nintendo's online is cheaper $20 compared to Sony or Microsoft.


Servers aren't cheap
Microsoft spends $700 million on there's, Sony $360 million
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/new...g-700-Million-to-Back-Xbox-Live-Cloud-Servers



PS4 has more online features then the PS3, adds to costs
https://www.destructoid.com/sony-explains-why-you-ll-have-to-pay-for-online-with-ps4-256158.phtml


PC Servers that don't have enough funding usually have problems
https://uk.pcmag.com/games/63755/server-login-problems-plague-diablo-3-launch-day
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/05/24/total-war-warhammer-suffers-server-issues-at-launch/
https://www.engadget.com/2012/12/14/gamespy-multiplayer-server-shutdown-result-of-failure-to-pay-by/



Being a multimillion dollar company means nothing if you don't know what the costs are. Difference between revenue and profit.
Money is also use to invest in other projects and game development.

A game costs around $10,000 per person per month using low numbers, can cost more in expensive area's. An indie studio with 5 workers working for 18 months will cost $900,000. A medium size publisher working 24 months with 40 people will cost $9,600,000. A big publisher like Rockstar for Red Dead Redemption with 400 workers and 36 months, $144,000,000. And these are conservative numbers.
https://kotaku.com/why-video-games-cost-so-much-to-make-1818508211

This is just for development. This doesn't add costs of Marketing/PR, publishing, physical copy productions, government permits/licensing, tradmark, and so on, which will rack up costs even higher. Sony also produces more then just video games. They are based on more products to manage.

The fact that annoys me the most isn't the fee itself though, it's the fact that If I don't play for a couple of weeks or even months sometimes, I basically wasted that money. So at the very least even if they're too greedy to offer online services for free(even though there are a lot of games I won't even play online), at the very least let the time timer tick only when I go online and not when I don't even use the service.

 

[lordelan]

have you heard of steam, hell, the piece of shit epic store even has free online

Just stop quoting me on that. I said it's debatable.

 

[Bladexdsl]

have you heard of steam, hell, the piece of shit epic store even has free online

yeah have you seen what steam has turned into though? a Weeaboo's playground

 

[Hells Malice]

I wonder if Europe wants any business to do anything. Pretty soon Europe is just going to go back to the stone ages because no one can be fucked to deal with their retarded laws anymore.

 

[SG854]

The fact that annoys me the most isn't the fee itself though, it's the fact that If I don't play for a couple of weeks or even months sometimes, I basically wasted that money. So at the very least even if they're too greedy to offer online services for free(even though there are a lot of games I won't even play online), at the very least let the time timer tick only when I go online and not when I don't even use the service.

It'll be like pay for 20 hours, compared to an unlimited monthly. I wouldn't mind something like that. There might be a negative effect in server costs though where they loose money, i'm trying to track down numbers right now.

Sony's monthly is $10. And $60 for 12, so $5 a month. $5 a month is like pocket change for alot of people. Plus you get free games.

 

[Gamer4Lyfe]

If Sony introduced free online gaming, but then had ps plus for those who wanted the free monthly games, would anyone buy ps plus?

 

[SG854]

If Sony introduced free online gaming, but then had ps plus for those who wanted the free monthly games, would anyone buy ps plus?

I don't think hardly anyone will get ps plus. The games alone won't be worth it. It depends on what you'll price ps plus with just games alone.
Plus they wont cover server costs for people that use online going that way, and will have to put in hidden costs to cover it.

 

[Vhestal]

The only time they're together under one roof and this happens. There's might be some sort of twisted conspiracy going on.

 

[nashismo]

I think the the UK investigators should actually make this questions:

Is it justified to charge for MP online services when most of the servers for games are held by each individual game company or are simply using p2p?

Didn't the clients already bought the games in full price to have the full experiences that were written on the discs? (MP portions written on the disc, something that was already paid for).

THESE are the allegations UK investigators should concentrate on, go to the bone of the matter.

And if they wont change their practices, just like in cigarettes, HALF of the fucking game case this should be written: "WARNING: To experience the FULL GAME you are mandated to pay again for multiplayer online even though you paid for this game already".

 

[pohaxsf]

I bought my girlfriend an Xbox One, Minecraft, and 6 months of Xbox Live on a prepaid card for her birthday. After the 6 months were up, Microsoft used an old credit card she linked to her Xbox 360 years ago to keep auto-billing her. She called to cancel. They didn't cancel it. She called back to cancel again when she realized it a few months later. They confirmed that she hadn't even turned her Xbox on since before the 6 months expired and that they had a log of her calling to cancel and they still kept charging her. They would not refund the money even though they acknowledged that she did not agree to the auto-renewal and did not use their service. They literally stole money from her. If she goes to the bank or a lawyer, they will steal hundreds of dollars worth of games and thousands of hours of saves.

Not that going to a lawyer would even do anything because corporations in the US can simply declare themselves above the law with "mandatory arbitration" clauses buried in their 60 page EULAs. And yes, the conservative US supreme court ruled that it is legal for them to do this. To literally steal money and absolve themselves from any US law.

Good on Britain for at least pretending to stand up for their citizens.

isn't that card expired lol

 

[brunocar]

yeah have you seen what steam has turned into though? a Weeaboo's playground

OH NO PEOPLE HAVE VARIETY TO CHOSE FROM /s at least steam doesnt try to hide and censor games like sony does

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To cover their costs and server costs they take a good chunky (unfair) percentage off the devs from each sale though, hurting the devs which in turn results them going elsewhere and is the reason why there is so many different stores/launchers now and making everything extremely fragmented.
Not to mention that ontop of all that, games in steam and other stores are almost always cheaper compared to consoles, lowering the devs profit even lower.

lol, as if i give a shit about profit, thats something for the big monolithic companies to worry about, besides, the "company friendly" epic game store is also free.

 

[cdcrossy]

its a joke there all about there shareholders and profits

 

[Mollycule]

I stopped playing any videogames 3 years ago, now I just take LSD and go to 2 week long raves, much better gfx and gameplay, lol...

IMO you pay enough for the console and games to warrant any 'server costs', and if they want to charge as much as they do for online, lower the cost of the consoles and games.. fucking simple economics, people these days are poor as fuck and can't barely afford to pay the rent and eat healthy.

Margins say:
Make the audience wider by not outpricing people, and you get more people paying money in the end.