In the UK it started a huge class action lawsuit against Sony, accused of having exploited the dominant position it enjoys in the segment of content distribution on the Playstation platform.
The complaint was filed on August 19 in the Competition Appeal Court by Alex Neill, CEO of the consumer protection site Resolve, on behalf of almost 9 million Sony PlayStation customers in the UK.
Inflated prices on PlayStation Store
The collective lawsuit points the finger at the increasingly high commissions imposed by Sony on developers, with a consequent increase in final prices to the detriment of users. In the event that the lawsuit establishes that the allegations are true, Sony would have to pay £5 billion in damagesabout 6 billion euros. According to the provisions, in fact, each consumer who has joined the class action would receive an amount between 67 and 562 pounds, 80-665 euros depending on the purchases.
In detail, according to the lawyers promoting the lawsuit, starting from 2016 Sony would have increased developer fees by 30%.. A disproportionate increase compared to the costs incurred by the Japanese group to provide its services which, on the one hand, would be too expensive for the developers themselves, on the other it would have resulted in substantial increases in the final price for the millions of PlayStation Store users.
“With this legal action I am standing up for millions of people in the UK who have been unknowingly overcharged. We believe Sony has abused his position and robbed his customers“said Alex Neill.
“Games are now the biggest form of entertainment in the UK, ahead of TV, video, music… All of this is costing millions to people who can't afford to spend, especially when we're in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis” concluded Neill.
