A class action lawsuit in the Netherlands accuses Sony PlayStation of charging on average 47% higher prices for games in its digital store, leaving consumers with millions in extra costs.
The hermetically closed console platforms – walled gardens – are increasingly coming under critical scrutiny.
Both Sony and Microsoft are moving away from built-in disc drives in PlayStation and Xbox, respectively. This forces users to buy from the only game store on the console; their own store.
Digital games cost significantly more
When console makers push consumers toward their own game stores instead of the open market for games on physical discs, prices surge. The price is on average 47% higher, according to Dutch consumer organization Stichting Massaschade & Consument, which is organizing the class action lawsuit.
They call it the "Sony tax" and argue that Sony PlayStation, by exploiting its monopoly on console games, has cost Dutch consumers 435 million euros since 2013.
- "Many people notice that since the latest PS5 generation, they are increasingly being pushed towards 'digital-only' consoles," said Lucia Melcherts, chair of Stichting Massaschade & Consument (machine translated). "These consoles work exclusively with digital games instead of physical discs. However, economic research has shown that consumers pay on average 47% more for those digital versions than for exactly the same game on a physical disc, while Sony's distribution costs are actually lower."
- "We are talking about people who have built up a considerable game collection over the years, which sometimes contains thousands of hours of play and large amounts. But the magic has been gone for them for a while: they have seen Sony slowly turn into a monopolist that unilaterally imposes new conditions and demands more money without putting anything against it."
According to Sony's latest quarterly report, 80% of all PlayStation games and in-game content are now purchased digitally – only 20% are bought on disc. According to industry sources, Sony takes a 30% cut of digital game sales and passes 70% to the distributor. That is double the profit margin compared to disc-based games, according to the organization.
The PlayStation Store is the only place you can buy PlayStation games on a disc-less PS5
Trying to pry PlayStation open
The consumer organization is aiming for two goals with its lawsuit: To restore competition and prevent the exploitation of consumers and game developers.
They argue that developers are held in a stranglehold because Sony contractually binds them to sell their games exclusively in the PlayStation Store. And Sony sets the price.
- "Sony is the sole provider of digital content on the world's most popular game console. Of all Dutch people who have a game console at home, more than 80% own a PlayStation. It can now make decisions without having to pay much attention to what competitors, developers or consumers do," said Melcherts.
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The organization believes the solution should be to force PlayStation to open up to alternative game stores. The first court session is expected to take place later this year.
- Source: Stichting Massaschade & Consument
