A London tribunal decided on Tuesday that Sony must deal with a massive lawsuit worth as much as 6.3 billion pounds ($7.9 billion) over allegations that the PlayStation manufacturer exploited its dominant position to charge consumers unfair prices.
On behalf of nearly nine million British consumers who purchased digital games or add-on content through Sony’s PlayStation Store, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) was sued last year.
The person bringing the case against Sony is consumer advocate Alex Neill, who has worked on several campaigns before. She claims that by mandating that digital games and add-ons be purchased and sold exclusively through the PlayStation Store—which takes a 30% commission from publishers and developers—the company abused its dominant position.
According to the claim, as a result, consumers have paid more than they otherwise would have for games and supplemental content.
Legal representatives for Sony claimed the case was “flawed from start to finish” and that it ought to be dismissed.
Although it stated that those who had made PlayStation Store purchases after the case was filed in 2022 should be excluded from the proposed claimant class, the Competition Appeal Tribunal decided that Neill’s case could proceed.
“The first step in ensuring consumers get back what they’re owed” was what Neill called the ruling on Tuesday in a statement. Sony did not answer a request for comment right away.
