Tech

PS4, PS5: accused of scamming players, Sony risks a fine of 5.9 billion euros

Sony is being sued for nearly €6 billion for allegedly breaching competition law and abusing market power to impose unfair terms on game publishers and developers, thereby driving up prices for the customers.

PS5
Credit: Unsplash

Sony will have to face a lawsuit of 5 billion dollars, as accusations of overcharging customers for digital purchases have been brought to the Competition Appeal Tribunal in the UK. A class action brought against the company. She accuses him of having “ripped off” customers with overpriced digital games and in-game purchases.

Led by consumer rights champion Alex Neill, the complaint alleges that Sony is abusing its dominant market position to impose unfair terms on game developers and publishers, including by charging 30% commission on every digital game or in-game purchase made on PlayStation Store. This would, according to the complaint, drive up prices for consumers.

Sony is overcharging its customers on the PlayStation Store

With this legal action, I defend the millions of Britons who have been unwittingly overcharged “said Neill. ” We believe Sony abused its position and ripped off its customers “. However, it must be remembered that 30% commissions are quite common in the industry, since they are also applied by Apple on the Apple Store, or by Google on the Play Store. It is therefore unclear why the complaint is aimed only at Sony and not at other companies that have similar practices. For its part, Google has nevertheless recently reduced the commission of its application store to only 12% in Europe.

All UK residents who have purchased digital games or additional content directly from PlayStation Store since August 19, 2016 are affected by the complaint and may receive compensation. It would appear that, excluding interest, the estimated damages per person are between £67 and £562. In total, customers would have been overcharged by £5 billion, or almost €5.9 million.

If Sony were to lose its lawsuit, the company could have to reimburse the full amount to the injured customers. Luckily, if you’re based in the UK and you’re a PlayStation user, you don’t have to pay anything to take part in this action. Unfortunately, as the lawsuit was not filed in France, French customers will not be entitled to any financial compensation.

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