Back in January, Microsoft announced major changes to its Game Pass subscription to comply with the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority). These changes include displaying information about its subscriptions more clearly for consumers, such as the price of it, how to go about canceling it, and how to get a refund. The CMA was also investigating Sony and Nintendo’s renewal practices as well, with the general aim to be protecting consumers from paying for something they are not using.
Now, Sony’s PS Plus subscription and Nintendo’s Switch Online subscription are set to make similar changes to bring all of this in line with the CMA’s requests. It should be noted that the CMA is based in the UK but hopefully spread to other regions.
On Sony’s end, it has agreed to a number of new measures to protect PS Plus subscribers. It will begin by contacting long-term customers who are paying for the service but not actively using it, reminding them how to cancel should they choose. After steps like these are taken, presumably to no impact or response, Sony will stop taking payments from inactive accounts.
The primary change Nintendo is making is tied to its automatic renewal practices. Previously, automatic renewal was set as the default option when setting up Nintendo Switch Online’s services. This is no longer the case. Nintendo Switch Online subscribers who want to use automatic renewal will need to do so after signing up, likely to prevent anyone from not realizing they had agreed to this renewal practice.
Executive director of enforcement at the CMA, Michael Grenfell said that these changes were made to “protect customers and help tackle concerns about auto-renewing subscriptions. After all, between gaming and streaming services, there are a lot of possible subscriptions, and keeping up with the fine print on each one’s renewal policies can be hard. Grenfell also mentions that this ends the CMA’s investigation into the video game sector and encourages companies in other industries to evaluate their practices. This would ensure that other sectors were complying with consumer protection laws.
Now, Sony’s PS Plus subscription and Nintendo’s Switch Online subscription are set to make similar changes to bring all of this in line with the CMA’s requests. It should be noted that the CMA is based in the UK but hopefully spread to other regions.
On Sony’s end, it has agreed to a number of new measures to protect PS Plus subscribers. It will begin by contacting long-term customers who are paying for the service but not actively using it, reminding them how to cancel should they choose. After steps like these are taken, presumably to no impact or response, Sony will stop taking payments from inactive accounts.
The primary change Nintendo is making is tied to its automatic renewal practices. Previously, automatic renewal was set as the default option when setting up Nintendo Switch Online’s services. This is no longer the case. Nintendo Switch Online subscribers who want to use automatic renewal will need to do so after signing up, likely to prevent anyone from not realizing they had agreed to this renewal practice.
Executive director of enforcement at the CMA, Michael Grenfell said that these changes were made to “protect customers and help tackle concerns about auto-renewing subscriptions. After all, between gaming and streaming services, there are a lot of possible subscriptions, and keeping up with the fine print on each one’s renewal policies can be hard. Grenfell also mentions that this ends the CMA’s investigation into the video game sector and encourages companies in other industries to evaluate their practices. This would ensure that other sectors were complying with consumer protection laws.
