Sony And Nintendo Change Subscription Service Terms Following Investigation

Both Sony and Nintendo have updated their subscription services to include auto-renewal protections for users.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), based in the UK, announced today that it finished its investigation into both companies. The organization was concerned about PlayStation Plus and Nintendo Switch Online's auto-renewal mechanisms, where users may be stuck paying for services that they no longer want to use.

As such, Sony has agreed to contact customers about how to cancel their PlayStation Plus memberships should they lapse and haven't used the service in a while. Additionally, if users continue to not use their memberships, Sony will also stop processing future payments. Nintendo has also agreed to change the Switch Online service so that the subscription's auto-renewal setting is no longer the default option for customers.

"Today’s announcement, therefore, concludes our investigations into the online video gaming sector," says Michael Grenfell, executive director of enforcement at the CMA in a press release. "Companies in other sectors which offer subscriptions that auto-renew should review their practices to ensure they comply with consumer protection law."

Back in January, the CMA conducted a similar investigation with Microsoft and Xbox. As a result, Microsoft now has to contact Xbox Live Gold and Game Pass customers who haven't used the services in at least one year about how to cancel their subscriptions. If they aren't used for another year, then they will automatically cancel.