PlayStation owners in the UK may be getting some beer money as part of a class-action lawsuit that is said to be worth up to £5 billion ($6.27 billion).
Alex Neill, a consumer champion, brought a lawsuit against Sony last year that accused the company of abusing its position in the market and inflating prices for customers through the PlayStation Store, and apparently, those allegations have had some merit, with a London tribunal now deciding that Sony must go to trial.
According to the official website for the class action, anyone in the UK who owned a PlayStation between the dates of August 19, 2016, and August 19, 2022, can opt in to the claim, something that Neill decided to push in August 2022 for the following reasons:
- Sony has a near monopoly on the sale of digital games and add-on content through its control of the PlayStation Store.
- Sony uses this dominance to enforce strict terms and conditions on game developers and publishers.
- These terms allow Sony to set the price of digital games and in-game content and charge a 30% commission on every purchase of digital games and in-game content from the PlayStation Store.
- This results in excessive and unfair prices to consumers for their digital games and in-game content.
- These prices are out of all proportion to the costs of Sony providing these services to its customers.
The litigation team reiterated some of this in its press release about how consumers have “won the first battle against Sony PlayStation,” claiming that the company made billions more than it should have by overcharging nearly 9 million UK consumers:
The claim sees Sony accused of abusing its market dominant position to impose unfair terms and conditions on PlayStation game developers and publishers, which results in excessive and unfair prices for consumers every time they buy digital games or in-game content from the PlayStation Store. It is alleged that this has resulted in 8.9m UK consumers being overcharged for their digital gaming purchases by potentially as much as £5 billion over the last six years.
“This is the first step in ensuring consumers get back what they’re owed as a result of Sony breaking the law. Playstation gamers’ loyalty has been taken advantage of by Sony who have been charging them excessive prices for years,” said Neill, class representative for the claim. “It is significant that the competition court has recognised Sony must explain its actions by ordering them to trial. With this action we are seeking to put a stop to this unlawful conduct and ensure customers are compensated.”
“We are delighted to have achieved certification for our claim against Sony. Companies who break the law must be held to account and we are determined to ensure this happens and consumers get access to justice,” said Natasha Pearman, the partner leading the litigation and head of competition litigation at Milberg London LLP. “We hope that the certification of our claim provides some clarity as to acceptable litigation funding agreements in the post-PACCAR environment for opt-out claims. Litigation funding is integral to the collective action regime. When a company as large as Sony breaks the rules consumers often have no idea it is even happening, let alone have the resources to take them on – litigation funding helps to level the playing field. That is why group legal claims like ours are so important, they provide a route to accessing justice that simply doesn’t exist otherwise.”
“Woodsford is proud to be funding Alex Neill and delighted that this is the first collective action where the funding arrangements have been approved following the seminal Supreme Court decision in PACCAR,” said Charlie Morris, Chief Investment Officer for Woodsford. “Sony sought to advance numerous unmeritorious and opportunistic arguments, all of which unsurprisingly failed. Defendants to these actions would be better advised to resolve meritorious actions in a speedy and cost-efficient way rather than spending millions on spurious and ultimately unsuccessful satellite disputes aimed solely at stymying access to justice.”
Neill and her team are trying to get Sony to settle the claim as soon as possible so everyone involved can get their money in a timely manner, although they warned that compensation may not come for several years.