Sony Interactive Entertainment is a video game company and the platform holder of the PlayStation brand of consoles. PlayStation consoles have been major successes dating back to the original PlayStation released in 1994. A new report suggests that Sony has been overcharging its UK players by a combined total of around £5 billion over the last six years. The legal action against the company states that individual damages to players range between £67 and £562.
In total, nine million claimants are suing the Japanese game company over accusations that it has “ripped people off” due to games and in-game items that were overpriced.
This legal action is a combined effort being headed by Alex Neill, who is a consumer rights champion. Sony is being accused of abusing its market power to force unfair conditions on game developers and publishers, which in turn is increasing the costs for players. This would be a breach of competition law, according to the legal claims.
Part of the claim mentions that Sony is charging a 30% commission on every game and digital item sold via the PlayStation store.
The claim was filed with the Competition Appeal Tribunal last Friday, and it mentions that anyone living in the UK who has made a purchase on the PlayStation store since 19 August 2016, is a part of this claim. If you happen to be included in that, then you could potentially be entitled to some compensation.
Neill, who is being advised by the Milberg London LLP law firm, commented. “With this legal action I am standing up for the millions of UK people who have been unwittingly overcharged. We believe Sony has abused its position and ripped off its customers,” he said.
Neill goes on to talk about how the video game industry is now the largest entertainment industry in the UK, surpassing music, TV, and video. She explains that many people rely on games for a sense of community and that Sony’s actions are “costing millions of people who can’t afford it, particularly when we’re in the midst of a cost of living crisis.”
Natasha Pearman, who is the partner leading this case against Sony, states that Sony has made use of an “anti-competitive strategy which has resulted in excessive prices to customers that are out of all proportion to the costs of Sony providing its services.”
It’s important to note that this claim against Sony is only possible thanks to the “opt-out collective action regime” which was put forward by the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Woodsford, a team of arbitration and litigation experts, is funding this action against the Japanese gaming giant. That means that those affected will not have to pay for any costs of the action against Sony themselves.
