Stichting Massaschade & Consument has sued Sony in a collective lawsuit. According to the claim organization, the case revolves around high prices for PlayStation games in Sony’s digital store.
The foundation announced the case in February after research showed that the most popular games for the PlayStation 4 and 5 in the digital store are almost half as expensive as the physical discs. “While the distribution costs for Sony are lower,” says Lucia Melcherts, chair of Stichting Massaschade & Consument.
According to the organization, this is because digital versions of PlayStation games are only for sale in Sony’s webshop. So there is no competition. That would give Sony the opportunity to charge extra high prices.
Since the announcement of the case in February, approximately 22,000 Dutch PlayStation players have joined the collective action. In addition, the foundation received thousands of messages and emails from PlayStation owners who recognize themselves in the outlined situation.
“We are talking about people who have built up a large game collection over the years, which sometimes contains thousands of playing hours and considerable amounts of money,” says Melcherts. She hopes to recover between 135 and 435 million euros on behalf of a total of 1.7 million Dutch PlayStation owners through the court.
The first hearing will probably take some time. It will “possibly take place later this year,” the foundation said.