Nintendo responds to 149.1 million Euro fine from EU

Logo of Nintendo, a video game company - Image 1The European Union (EU) took a big chunk out of Nintendo’s assets as the video game company was recently levied a fine of €149.1 million (US$ 232 million) due to price fixing issues. The court filings from the commission mentioned that Nintendo failed to pay “particular vigilence” in preventing price collusion with distributors as their role as producer. For more details regarding this story, check out our full article.

European Union flag - Image 1It’s deja vu all over again for Nintendo as the European Union (EU) recently levied a €149.1 million (US$ 232 million) fine on the video game company for price fixing issues.

In 2002, the European Commission previously fined Nintendo and seven other distributors a total of €167.8 million for colluding to raise prices of video games and consoles between 1991 and 1998. The Brussels-based agency mentioned that this fine reflected Nintendo’s position as both producer and supplier.

However, Nintendo wasn’t about to take this issue sitting down. Ian Forrester, a lawyer for the company, told the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg that “the penalty was unfair, illegal, even shocking.” This fine was considered as one of the biggest single penalties in EU competition law.

Xavier Lewis, a lawyer for the commission, countered with his own statement saying that: “The fine was not of a capricious nature, or based on wild estimates. This fine was for an infringement that was considered very serious.”

The court filings from the commission mentioned that Nintendo failed to pay “particular vigilance” in preventing price collusion with distributors as their role as producer. This move was taken on the behalf of smaller distributors to prevent them from being unduly penalized because of Nintendo’s actions.

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