Katarzyna Petru
The Dutch consumer organisation Stichting Massaschade & Consument is filing a serious class action lawsuit against Sony. According to their data, games purchased digitally from the PlayStation Store are on average 47% more expensive than their disc counterparts. The reason? The closed PS5 ecosystem and lack of competition.
Digital Monopoly and Prices Without Restraint
Since the launch of the PS5 Digital, more and more players are being forced to purchase games only through Sony's digital store. The problem is that they have no choice – they cannot take advantage of cheaper offers from stores with boxed versions. What was once an option is now becoming a necessity.
The consumer organisation states outright: “Sony has become a monopolist”. And although digital distribution should be cheaper – as it eliminates the costs of physical production and logistics – in practice, it is quite the opposite.
435 million euros more. And that’s just in the Netherlands
According to the lawsuit, players in the Netherlands have paid an extra 435 million euros since 2013, compared to if they had purchased the same games in physical versions. And from every digital sale, Sony takes 30% – that’s twice as much as for disc games.
– “Players have been building their collections for years, investing time and money. Now they feel cheated” – says Lucia Melcherts, chairwoman of Stichting Massaschade & Consument. – “Sony unilaterally sets the rules and raises prices without offering anything in return.”
Time to open the PlayStation Store?
The organisation is demanding two things:
– the restoration of real competition,
– the admission of alternative game stores to the PlayStation ecosystem.
So far, there are no indications that Sony will back down – but the first court hearing is set to begin later this year.
