Sony faces multimillion-dollar lawsuit for overcharging Playstation customers
A London court ruled Tuesday that Sony must face a nearly $8 billion lawsuit over allegations that the PlayStation maker abused its dominant market position by charging “excessive prices” to its customers.
The UK Competition Appeal Court ruled that Sony must face a lawsuit worth up to 6.3 billion pounds (approximately $7.9 billion) over claims brought by Alex Neill, a consumer advocate who has worked on previous campaigns.
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) was sued last year on behalf of almost 9 million people in the UK who had purchased digital games or additional content through Sony’s PlayStation Store.
Neill’s lawyers said the total damage estimate in the case was up to £6.3bn in court papers last month.
Neill alleges that Sony required digital games and add-ons to be bought and sold only through its online PlayStation Store, which charges a 30% commission to developers and publishers.
The lawsuit alleges that customers have therefore paid higher prices for additional games and content than they otherwise would have paid.
Sony did not respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.
Lawyers for the company have previously argued that the case was “flawed from start to finish” and said it should be dismissed.
The Court ruled that Neill’s case could continue, although it said that people who had made purchases from the PlayStation Store after the case was filed in 2022 should be removed from the proposed class of plaintiffs.
“This is the first step in ensuring that consumers recover what they are owed as a result of Sony violating the law,” Neill said in a statement. “Sony has taken advantage of the loyalty of PlayStation gamers and has been charging them excessive prices for years.”
