Sony and Nintendo pledge to update subscription guidelines following UK watchdog’s investigation

Sony and Nintendo have pledged to update subscription renewal rules in the UK. The platform holders made the decision following an investigation conducted by the country’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The CMA closed the investigation on April 13 after securing undertakings from two Japanese platform holders, according to Reuters.

Sony has agreed to contact PS Plus customers who haven’t used the service for a long time and remind them about the options to cancel their subscription. The company will also stop taking payments in case a user doesn’t cancel subscriptions themselves but is not actively using it.

Nintendo has pledged to stop selling its Switch Online service with automatic renewal as the default option.

The CMA launched the investigation into Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft in 2019. The goal was to check whether their contracts and terms were fair to British customers.

In January 2022, Microsoft was the first platform holder to make changes in accordance with the CMA’s requirements. The company agreed to clearly display information about its subscription service, including the price, cancelation, and refund.