Sony facing $7.9 billion mass lawsuit over PlayStation Store prices

A London tribunal decided on Tuesday that Sony (6758.T) must pay up to 6.3 billion pounds ($7.9 billion) in damages for allegedly abusing its dominating position in the PlayStation market to charge discriminatory rates to consumers.

A lawsuit was filed against Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) last year on behalf of around nine million British consumers who purchased digital games or add-on items via the PlayStation Store.

Alex Neill, a consumer advocate who has worked on campaigns in the past, is bringing the lawsuit against Sony. It has a potential worth of up to 5 billion pounds ($6.23 billion) plus interest.

In court documents last month, her attorneys stated that the case’s total damages may reach 6.3 billion pounds.

She claims that the business exploited its dominant position by mandating that digital games and add-ons be purchased and sold exclusively through the PlayStation Store, which takes a 30% fee from publishers and developers.

According to the assertion, as a result, consumers have spent more than they otherwise would have for games and supplemental material.

Legal representatives for Sony claimed the lawsuit was “flawed from start to finish” and ought to be dismissed.

Although it said that anyone who had made PlayStation Store purchases after the action was filed in 2022 should be excluded from the proposed claimant class, the Competition Appeal Tribunal decided that Neill’s case should proceed.

“The first step in ensuring consumers get back what they’re owed” was what Neill called the verdict on Tuesday in a statement. Sony did not answer a request for a comment right away.