Summary
Sonyis facing a $7.9 billion class action lawsuit over itsPlayStationStore practices. Sony lawyers were hoping thatPlayStation’s massive lawsuit for allegedly overcharging customerswould be dropped, but the case has been allowed to move forward. The initial lawsuit stems from PlayStation’s terms and conditions for developers and publishers that sell games on the digital storefront. With Sony’s 30% commission for games sold on the PlayStation Store, it is alleged that the company ends up charging consumers too much for digital titles.
The battle against this sort of behavior on digital storefronts isn’t new, as Apple recently was faced with lawsuits thanks to its 30% cut on the App Store. In fact, this is the main debate withinEpic’s lawsuit against Apple and Google, which is still ongoing in the case of Epic and Google. This time, however, it’s not the game publishers that are suing, it’s the consumers. After more than a year, it appears as though this lawsuit will continue, and it could cost Sony billions of dollars.
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Reutersis reporting that a class action lawsuit filed against Sony Interactive Entertainment has been allowed to move forward by a London Tribunal. It is alleged that Sony is “abusing its dominant position” by requiring software to be bought and sold only on its online marketplace. Because of Sony’s 30% commission on all PlayStation Store sales, it is argued that consumers are forced to pay a higher price for entertainment than they should otherwise.
While the lawsuit has been allowed to continue, it does so without people who made purchases on the PlayStation Store since the case was initially filed in 2022. Again,Sonylawyers have tried to get the case thrown out entirely, claiming it was “flawed from start to finish.” It has been to no avail, however, the case has been allowed to continue.
It should be noted thatcourts eventually ruled in favor of Apple in theFortnitelawsuit. Of course, this isn’t an apples-to-apples example as it’s another company filing a lawsuit in another country entirely. That said, the argument of PlayStation acting as a sort of monopolistic entity in the gaming space is similar to Epic’s claims against Apple.
Ironically,Sony objected to Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisitionfor allegedly being anti-consumer. Much of the debate concerned one of Xbox’s biggest new franchises,Call of Duty. Sony has historically struck exclusivity deals with the popular shooter series, and the recent acquisition would look to put an end to that.
PS5
Sony’s PlayStation 5 is part of the ninth console generation and debuted with a launch lineup that included Demon’s Souls and Astro’s Playroom. The console comes with a Blu-ray disc, although a digital-only edition is also available for a cheaper price.
