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As a result of an investigation from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the U.K., both Sony and Nintendo will introduce new, consumer-friendly policies regarding their subscription services. Nintendo will no longer make auto-renewal the default option when purchasing a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, which the CMA says "address[es] a number of the CMA’s concerns about people becoming locked in." As for Sony, they will contact users who are not actively using their PlayStation Plus subscription to remind them how to cancel their subscription. If the user doesn't cancel but also doesn't start using the service, Sony will ultimately stop taking payments. It's worth noting that the CMA does not say how long the user must remain inactive before either of these steps are taken, simply saying users who have not used the service "for a long time" will be contacted. They also don't say explicitly what constitutes "using" the service - whether any use of a PlayStation account with a subscription satisfies that requirement, or if one must actually play online or play a PS+ game to satisfy the requirement.

These actions follow similar measures taken by Microsoft, who proactively adopted policy changes back in January in anticipation of the investigation. With all three major platform holders changing policy, Michael Grenfell, Executive Director of Enforcement at the CMA, announced that their investigation into the online video gaming sector has concluded.

Source

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

It be cool if there was just a timer you can just pause when you're not using it and unpause when you are. Get your full money's worth. Like when your hard drive goes to sleep after not using it for a few minutes. Though the extra insurance of cloud saves might prevent such a thing.

 

[AndorfRequissa]

to enslave you into their data mined world where they know everything about you they have to act as your friends and start doing things to push people to play online instead of offline.

as inflation continues the next steps will be making physical cartridges/disc and non-digital editions of consoles more limited. once the peons have accepted enough digital edition consoles where online is your only mechanism to get games they have a good amount of lemmings being dataenslaved and they wont even know it. not me i dont want online subscriptions.

even if it cost more resist the urge to go online. when i play games i like to play them in a pure NPC world and that will never need me to be online.

 

[subcon959]

when i play games i like to play them in a pure NPC world

There's a whole new generation of gamers that see it as a purely social form of engagement and have minimal interest in single player gaming. Guess which ones are more profitable for the companies to cater to?

 

[Dark_Ansem]

Oh wow such big changes, they changed an option! Laughable response from all parties involved.

 

[BraveDragonWolf]

No to paying for online co-op...
I know it's a money grabber for the company but, we can all agree that we don't want to pay for multiplayer.

 

[chrisrlink]

pft this needs to be be adopted world wide (but will never happen in greedy corporate America)

 

[Marc_LFD]

That's surprising since these are two stubborn companies. It's a good start, now make it worldwide.

Also, I wish the U.K. would swap the PEGI system for ESRB and yeah, I know ESRB is for NA only originally, but maybe they could work out a deal. The U.K. isn't part of the EU anymore so nothing's stopping.

 

[WG481]

to enslave you into their data mined world where they know everything about you they have to act as your friends and start doing things to push people to play online instead of offline.

as inflation continues the next steps will be making physical cartridges/disc and non-digital editions of consoles more limited. once the peons have accepted enough digital edition consoles where online is your only mechanism to get games they have a good amount of lemmings being dataenslaved and they wont even know it. not me i dont want online subscriptions.

even if it cost more resist the urge to go online. when i play games i like to play them in a pure NPC world and that will never need me to be online.

I wouldn't say it's datamining to make games digital.
I would say it's anti-piracy.
The PS4 doesn't even let you play a game unless it's copied purely from it's disc, and unless the disc is in the console.

You make it sound like there's a video game conspiracy.

In all honesty, developers will continue to make single player games. They know that certain people don't have friends.

 

[Skelletonike]

That's surprising since these are two stubborn companies. It's a good start, now make it worldwide.

Also, I wish the U.K. would swap the PEGI system for ESRB and yeah, I know ESRB is for NA only originally, but maybe they could work out a deal. The U.K. isn't part of the EU anymore so nothing's stopping.

I'm surprised you prefer ESRB over PEGI.
Most people online seem to prefer PEGI over ESRB since it doesn't have a "banned" rating like AO but rather 18+.

 

[FAST6191]

Also, I wish the U.K. would swap the PEGI system for ESRB and yeah, I know ESRB is for NA only originally, but maybe they could work out a deal. The U.K. isn't part of the EU anymore so nothing's stopping.

Why would you wish such a horrible fate upon the poor old UK? I don't want to have to consider US prudishness and puritanical bents when games are involved.
If it was the ideal case wherein the governments would actually relinquish control of censorship boards (granted retailers and console makers dictating things is not really that much better) then we might speak more.

 

[yoyoyo69]

Disgusting they had to be forced, no surprise Sony dragging their heels and implement the bare minimum.

 

[Goku1992A]

Very Nice!

Sony billed me for 2 years for PS Plus (which I hardly use) But ultimately it is the end user responsibility to double check the auto renewal is off... me being lazy I never cut mines off (still to this day)

 

[tech3475]

That's surprising since these are two stubborn companies. It's a good start, now make it worldwide.

Also, I wish the U.K. would swap the PEGI system for ESRB and yeah, I know ESRB is for NA only originally, but maybe they could work out a deal. The U.K. isn't part of the EU anymore so nothing's stopping.

I could see the UK being more likely to switch back to the BBFC, especially for 18+. I see no reason to switch from PEGI.

Bearing in mind, last I checked games ratings are actually legally enforced here where as in the US it’s more ‘state by state’ from what I’ve heard.

 

[Marc_LFD]

I could see the UK being more likely to switch back to the BBFC, especially for 18+. I see no reason to switch from PEGI.

Bearing in mind, last I checked games ratings are actually legally enforced here where as in the US it’s more ‘state by state’ from what I’ve heard.

Oh, yeah.

I checked out the redesign of the BBFC certificates and at first it looked odd, but it definitely goes well with game covers now.

Is the BBFC still as strict as they were before with censoring movies/shows? I'd hope not as censorship is a pain in the ass.

Judt for searched "PEGI BBFC" and this showed up: https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/08/01/pegi-ratings-what-does-it-all-mean

Says PEGI replaced, but there were some that still used BBFC, right? The U.K. should just use their own system. Hell, Germany uses USK which looks like a shitstain and no one has a problem with it.

Just missing the Australian certificate. lol

Way to ruin a perfectly nice cover. Fatal Frame (aka Project Zero) has been re-released for the PS4 in Asia and it can be played in English. I enjoyed it on the Wii U.

Despite being the 5th entry, it was my first time playing the series.

 

[Viri]

This is why I use a privacy card for free trials. Because I always forget to end the free trial. lol

 

[jeffyTheHomebrewer]

I wouldn't say it's datamining to make games digital.
I would say it's anti-piracy.
The PS4 doesn't even let you play a game unless it's copied purely from it's disc, and unless the disc is in the console.

You make it sound like there's a video game conspiracy.

In all honesty, developers will continue to make single player games. They know that certain people don't have friends.

Reminds me of ol' PC games like every YDKJ game before 2011.. Have'ta install the game, but still need ye olde disc t' play.

 

[the_randomizer]

All I can say is, "ha ha!"

 

[Ibcap]

Insane these companies are still charging for basic functions which some games are unplayable without on an additional sub fee beyond the upfront game costs. The money isn't even going to the devs who host the game servers, its just free cash for sony/microsoft/Nintendo. I moved all my online gaming to pc these days to avoid this bullshit, im never paying a subscription to access games I already own.

 

[HarveyHouston]

Hmm, that may be a problem...