Katarzyna Petru
The Dutch consumer organization Stichting Massaschade & Consument is filing a serious class action lawsuit against Sony. According to their data, games purchased digitally in the PlayStation Store are on average 47% more expensive than their counterparts on discs. The reason? The closed ecosystem of PS5 and lack of competition.
Digital Monopoly and Unchecked Prices
Since the release of the PS5 Digital, more and more players are being forced to buy 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 physical versions. What was once an option is now becoming a necessity.
The consumer organization states bluntly: “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 exactly the opposite.
435 million euros more. And that's just in the Netherlands
According to the lawsuit, players in the Netherlands have paid as much as 435 million euros more since 2013 than if they had bought the same games in physical versions. And from each 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, chair of Stichting Massaschade & Consument. – “Sony unilaterally sets the rules and raises prices, offering nothing in return.”
Time to open the PlayStation Store?
The organization is demanding two things:
– the restoration of real competition,
– the admission of alternative game stores into the PlayStation ecosystem.
So far, there are no indications that Sony will yield – but the first court hearing is set to begin later this year.
