PlayStation Sued for £5 billion as Claims Say it 'Ripped Off Customers' - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 September 2022 / 3,402 Views
Sony PlayStation is being sued for £5 billion in a collective action against the gaming company for allegations it "ripped off its customers" due to overpriced games and in-game purchases.
The lawsuit has been introduced by consumer rights campaigner Alex Neill and claims Sony abused its market power by imposing unfair terms and conditions on game publishers and developers, that forced up prices for consumers.
The claim filed with the Competition Appeal Tribunal alleges consumers have been overcharged for their digital purchases by as much as £5 billion over the last six years. The estimated overcharge per person comes to between £67 and £562 for the supposed nine million claimants.
It alleges that Sony "ripped people off" by charging a 30 percent commission on every digital game and in-game purchase made in the PlayStation Store. It should be noted there are other video game digital stores that also take a 30 percent cut, like Microsoft's Xbox Store and Valve's PC store Steam.
"The game is up for Sony PlayStation," Neill told Sky News who is being advised by law firm Milberg London LLP.
"With this legal action I am standing up for the millions of UK people who have been unwittingly overcharged. We believe Sony has abused its position and ripped off its customers.
"Gaming is now the biggest entertainment industry in the UK, ahead of TV, video and music and many vulnerable people rely on gaming for community and connection. The actions of Sony is costing millions of people who can't afford it, particularly when we're in the midst of a cost of living crisis and the consumer purse is being squeezed like never before."
Natasha Pearman, the partner leading the case, added, "Sony dominates the digital distribution of PlayStation games and in-game content; it has deployed an anti-competitive strategy which has resulted in excessive prices to customers that are out of all proportion to the costs of Sony providing its services.
"This claim is only possible because of the opt-out collective action regime that was introduced by the Consumer Rights Act 2015; a regime which Alex fought to introduce. We are looking forward to working with Alex and making sure that the regime achieves its aims of protecting and compensating consumers."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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How is it abusing it's power if it's charging the same as everyone else?
Ok, pay more.
Sounds like every platform holder including Steam should be included in this lawsuit then lol
I thought all digital stores take a 30% cut. This is extremely confusing.
microsoft pc store & epic only take 12%
Sounds a bit like the bizarre logic behind the lawsuit Epic made against Apple and Google… That didn’t work out too well for them, not only did Epic lose the lawsuit, but the courts are forcing Epic to legally change their name to Epic Failure.
What an obtuse claim. It isn`t like they are obligating anyone to buy a game. Same game is also available in retail stores for similar price but digital purchase keep increasing in presence because people chose to buy over there. But now same people say that he is unhappy by it. It is like asking from protection from own decisions.
Well this will go nowhere fast. Good luck on getting a win on this.
This is so dumb I can't even believe it.. Face, meet palm.
Games are a luxury. Sony's entitled to chargs 4,000 pounds for a single indie game if they want, you can't sue them becuase you don't like it. That's just dumb.
And yes the same applies to literally every developer and published and hardware manufacturer. It's a luxury item, they can charge whatever they damn well want and it's up to YOU as the consumer to decide if you find it worth it or not. That's like, economics 101. The very most basic core of the free market.
I want to know why does Sony charge 79.99 in several other countries for plenty of their AAA 1st party releases on the digital front instead of 69.99 like the US.
US price for Sony games is $69.99, this doesn't include sales tax, as that is added later, or in some cases, not at all for digital goods in certain states. Sales tax varies from state to state which is why they do this. In the UK the price is £69.99 which includes 20% sales tax.
This is in answer to Dahum's original question. Same applies for Euro countries but in the mainland Europe, the price is listed for the Euro zone. As to yours when you asked "Why would only some publishers raise the prices then?" Because different companies charge different amounts for their products. RRP is 69.99 Euros for Elden Ring, same in France, Spain and Germany, yet the sales tax differ in each country. Spain pay 21% sales tax, France 20% and Germany 19%.
The key point would be if it can be proven that Sony is using their market place advantage to set the price and exclude competition in some way. Not really sure if this is all about just how much they charge for their service but could be a number of other elements or strong arm tactics which would need to be proven.
30% same as most others ? this will get laughed out of courts... but one thing i dont agree with is not being able to buy cheaper store keys like can with xbox if you have a digital only console then your forced to pay PSN Store prices
Incoming twelve-dollar-checks for people, ten years from now.
If they win this case Sony is literally doomed
