Subscription services offered by Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are under investigation by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
The CMA will look into whether or not the game publishers’ subscriptions services including Xbox Live Gold, Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Plus and Nintendo Switch Online are in breach of consumer law when it comes to auto-renewal terms, cancellations and refunds.
“Roll-over contracts are becoming more and more commonplace and its essential that they work well for customers,” CMA head, Andrea Coscelli, said.
“Our investigation will look into whether the biggest online gaming companies are being fair with their customers when they automatically renew their contracts, and whether people can easily cancel or get a refund. Should we find that the firms aren’t treating people fairly under consumer protection law, we are fully prepared to take action.”
On its case page, the CMA says it will specifically look into the fairness of subscription service contracts, the ease in cancelling or requesting a refund and the fairness of auto-renewal processes.
We’ll keep you informed as we learn more.
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