Britain’s Competition Appeal Tribunal has granted permission for a mass claim against Sony. A Briton sued the PlayStation maker last year for charging 30 percent commission on the PlayStation Store. Consumers are therefore paying too much for games, the claim alleges.
The CAT states that the case, which was started by consumer advocate Alex Neill, may come before the courtroom. Sony asked the court to dismiss the case because, according to the company, it has no chance, but the appeals court disagrees. The console manufacturer has not shown that the mass claim is not based on reasonable grounds and has no chance of success in a court of law, the CAT concludes. It does rule that people who made PlayStation Store purchases after the case was filed should be removed from the list of mass claim participants.
Alex Neill started the claim against Sony in 2022. According to Neill, Sony is abusing its dominant position in distributing digital games for the PlayStation consoles. The claim states that Sony only allows developers to purchase PlayStation digital games from its own store and charges a 30 percent commission for doing so. Since developers have no alternative way to sell their games digitally, they cannot escape that thirty percent commission, the court states. The mass claim argues that this causes consumers to overpay for digital games and dlc from the PlayStation Store. Neill is therefore demanding up to 562 pounds per customer. This could bring the total amount up to 5 billion pounds, about 5.4 billion euros according to current exchange rates.
Neill said Tuesday in a statement that the ruling is “the first step in ensuring that consumers get back what they are entitled to,” Reuters writes. Sony did not respond to request for comment, reports that news agency.
