Sony and Nintendo Updating Subscription Guidelines After Auto-renewal Investigation

Following an investigation by the UK government’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Sony Interactive Entertainment will review its PS Plus auto-renewal practices. As reported by Games Industry, Nintendo has also agreed to update its guidelines and Microsoft has already taken steps to address the issue back in January. The investigation was aimed at all three console manufacturers and their subscription services in order to protect consumers.

How Sony will address PS Plus auto-renewal

Image: Sony

Sony has agreed to contact PS Plus users who haven’t used their membership in a long time but are still paying, and remind them how to cancel their subscriptions. If they still don’t cancel and continue to not use PS Plus, the company will stop deducting further payments. Nintendo, on the other hand, will stop selling Nintendo Switch Online Service with auto-renewal as the default option. Microsoft previously agreed to ensure that customers are informed about active auto-renewals and how to turn them off, giving them the option to seek a refund for 12-month subscriptions should they wish to end their contract.

In a statement, the CMA welcomed these changes, arguing that they’ll protect consumers and ensure that companies are complying with consumer protection law. “As a result of our investigations, a number of changes have been made across this sector to protect customers and help tackle concerns about auto-renewing subscriptions,” said CMA’s executive director of enforcement, Michael Grenfell. “Today’s announcement therefore concludes our investigations into the online video gaming sector. Companies in other sectors which offer subscriptions that auto-renew should review their practices to ensure they comply with consumer protection law.”

In other news, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi has said that he wants to play Horizon Forbidden West (not Elden Ring) before starting work on his next project, and more rumors suggest that PSVR 2 won’t release until at least 2023.

[Source: CMA via Games Industry]