The Italian Antitrust has fined Sony an amount of €2 million for conducting unfair business practices for the sales of PlayStation 4 consoles in Europe, which they’ve been given thirty days to pay. The fine pertains to the lack of clear information on PS4 boxes about PlayStation Plus subscriptions being required to access online play for all PS4 titles. As per the Italian Antitrust, this amounts to misdirection of consumers, and has affected a large number of people who’ve bought PS4 consoles without clearer indication of this knowledge since November of 2013.
PS4 boxes do mention in small print at the back that PS Plus subscriptions are required to be able to play games online, so the issue would seem to be that the same information – which is undoubtedly quite pertinent and might affect purchase decisions – isn’t mentioned more clearly on said boxes. As such, Sony has been told to correct the issue. Failure to comply will result in another fine of anywhere between €10,000 to €5 million, or even temporary suspension of business activities upon repeated failures- however Sony can appeal this decision at any time within the next sixty days.
Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more updates as this story develops.