PlayStation Plus and Nintendo Switch Online get major pro-consumer update

techradar.com:

Sony and Nintendo will be changing how they handle auto-renewing PlayStation Plus and Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions in the UK, after similar pro-consumer changes were made by Microsoft earlier this year.

Following an investigation by the UK’s Competition & Markets Authority (CMA), Sony and Nintendo will be rolling out alterations to the services that will make it harder for inactive subscribers to accidentally pay for the services they no longer want.

Sony has agreed to stop taking payments from PlayStation Plus members who haven't used the service in a long time, and remind inactive subscribers how to stop paying for the service. 

Nintendo, meanwhile, has already changed its renewal policy. Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions are no longer sold with auto-renewal set as the default options, preventing players from automatically taking out monthly renewing contracts.

Previously, PlayStation Plus and Nintendo Switch Online would indefinitely charge players until they actively ended their membership. That meant you could end up accidentally paying for the services for potentially months at a time because you’d forgotten to cancel them. 

The CMA said these changes will go some way to prevent that, protecting consumers who often find it unclear whether their subscriptions automatically roll over each month, as well as difficult to turn off the auto-renewal process.

“As a result of our investigations, a number of changes have been made across this sector to protect customers and help tackle concerns about auto-renewing subscriptions,” said the CMA’s executive director of enforcement, Michael Grenfell.

“Today's announcement therefore concludes our investigations into the online video gaming sector. Companies in other sectors