Sony Faces Lawsuit Over PlayStation Store Prices; 6.3 Billion Pounds at Stake
A London court has agreed to continue a class action case against Sony. A loss could cost the Japanese giant an astronomical amount 6.3 billion pounds.
In August last year, a British court received a class action against Sony. The document suggested that the Japanese corporation used its dominant position in the market to overprice products on PlayStation Store. By imposing a 30 percent commission on each purchase, customers may have lost an estimated L5 billion.
Although Sony's lawyers sought to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming it was "flawed from start to finish," the British judiciary agreed to continue the case (via Reuters). The judges' only stipulation is that the accusers cannot include people who made PlayStation Store purchases after the lawsuit was filed in 2022.
The original lawsuit stipulated that all customers who made purchases from PlayStation's digital store between August 19, 2016 and August 2022 could seek damages ranging from L67 to L562 (not including interest).
Given the magnitude of the dispute and the amount of potential compensation, which has since risen to L6.3 billion (almost $8 billion), Microsoft's recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard may be just a prelude to much bigger trouble for Sony. Interestingly, Sony opposed the deal, suggesting anti-consumer actions by the Redmond giant.
