Sony Interactive Entertainment is set to face a massive $7.9 billion lawsuit in the U.K. that claims the company “abused its dominant position” to jack up prices on the PlayStation Store, as first reported today by Reuters.
The lawsuit is reportedly representing almost nine million people in the U.K. who have purchased games or digital add-on content via the PlayStation Store. According to Alex Neill of Consumer Voice U.K., who is bringing the lawsuit up on behalf of U.K. consumers, those customers might have overpaid for games or other purchases and could be owed hundreds in compensation.
Neill and her lawsuit claim Sony imposes unfair terms and conditions on the PlayStation game developers and publishers, including a 30 percent commission charge. Neill claims this 30 percent commission charge affected the price of games and content on the PS Store, and that the company’s “monopoly on the sale of digital games and add-on content” through the store allows it to set prices that are out of proportion to the costs of providing those games and content.
Neill claims the combined overcharges total as much as 5 billion pounds over the past six years. The “aggregate damages estimate of the case” is 6.3 billion pounds, or $7.9 billion, according to Reuters.
According to Neill and Consumer Voice U.K., customers in the U.K. who have spent money on the PlayStation Store between August 2016 and August 2022 could be owed between 67 and 562 pounds (roughly $84 to $604) if the claim is won. Currently, U.K. customers who have spent money on the PlayStation Store within that time range can sign up for updates via Consumer Voice U.K. and can choose to be included in the claim at a later time.
The lawsuit was given approval by the U.K.’s Competition Appeal Tribunal today. According to Reuters, Sony’s lawyers argued the case “was flawed from start to finish” and tried to have it thrown out. In a judgment statement published by the CTA, the Tribunal ruled in favor of Neill and the lawsuit regarding those complaints.
