PlayStation Store Accused Of Violating UK Competition Law In $ 2.7 Billion Class Action Lawsuit

Sony is facing a class action lawsuit in the UK.

The lawsuit accuses Sony of charging higher prices in the PlayStation Store, in violation of UK’s competition law. That’s the same law that Microsoft had to comply with to get approval of their Activision deal.

Sony argues that Microsoft and Nintendo use similar business models to run their platform and they don’t have an excessive margin but that doesn’t address all the complaint provisions.

To quote The Claim:

Sony has a near monopoly on the sale of digital games and add-on content through its control of the PlayStation Store.

They refer to Sony allowing 3^rd parties to only sell PSN store credits. Stores like Amazon, Walmart, etc. cannot sell PSN game codes, but Sony can.

The Claim also specifically states Sony makes a 30 % commission, and that these practices have been in effect since August 2016.

This lawsuit has been in the works for some time. Oddly enough, it’s come up as Sony is now accused of A/B testing and dynamic pricing, all of which could also come up in this lawsuit.