It has been revealed that a Dutch consumer group has filed a class action lawsuit against Sony. The organisation – Massaschade & Consument – alleges that Sony is keeping prices on the PlayStation Store ‘artificially high’ and is abusing a position of power by preventing players from buying digital versions of PS4 and PS5 games elsewhere.
The class action lawsuit joins others that have surfaced recently in Portugal and the United Kingdom, and this particular suit is exclusively reserved for residents of the Netherlands.
‘You’re Paying Too Much for PlayStation Games’
The class action lawsuit, which was discovered first by ‘Tweakers‘, states clearly in the headline that ‘you’re paying too much for PlayStation games’. The suit has dubbed the alleged overpayments ‘Sony Tax’, and it stresses that all PlayStation gamers in the Netherlands have a right to compensation.
On February 17, the legal body wrote to Sony to ‘hold it liable to the abuse of its dominant position and its further unlawful conduct in relation to the PlayStation 4 and 5.’
Netherlands residents can register as part of the class action lawsuit for free by completing a simple form. The only requirement is that you’ve made a digital purchase via the PlayStation Store at some point since November 29, 2013. You must also be at least eight years old.
In a statement on the site promoting the class action lawsuit, it was explained what Sony is doing wrong:
The gaming industry is now bigger than the film, TV and music industries combined. Sony, as the manufacturer of the world’s best-selling console, is one of the most powerful – if not the most powerful – players in this market. And with such power comes responsibility. In the EU, it is illegal for large companies to abuse their position to make more profit at the expense of consumers. Yet Sony does not fully comply with these rules.
When you buy a digital game or in-game content, Sony ensures that this can only be done via its own PlayStation Store. Sony keeps the market for itself in this way and can keep the prices artificially high. As a result, you pay more, without getting anything extra in return. This is also called the ‘Sony Tax’.
In November 2023, Sony faced a whopping £5 billion class action lawsuit in the United Kingdom for this very same reason. That case was kicked off in 2022, but the most recent documentation about the lawsuit was published midway through 2024, and the results of the proceedings are unclear.
Do you think Sony has an issue with PlayStation Store prices? Let us know in the comments or on the GPlayr forum.
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