Last week, Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin halted Sony’s proposed out-of-court settlement, which aimed to compensate plaintiffs of a class-action lawsuit with approximately $7.8 million in PlayStation Store credits. The report comes from Reuters.
In relation to the class-action suit, it claims Sony charges unreasonable prices for digital game copies, accusing them of overcharging consumers. However, Judge Martínez-Olguín expressed doubt about the fairness of the proposed settlement, referring to it as a “discount voucher settlement”.
neither Sony nor Michael Buchman, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, have issued any statements regarding the decision as of now. Judge Martínez-Olguín has informed the consumers involved in the class action suit that they may submit an updated plan for the settlement.
It’s important to point out that the main issue in the legal dispute is Sony prohibiting retailers such as GameStop from selling game download codes for their consoles since 2019. The lawsuit alleges that this action has given Sony an edge in the digital video game market, potentially creating a monopolistic situation.
In their own words, Sony communicated that their aim for a settlement was to steer clear of the potential costs and disruptions associated with legal battles. On the other hand, Judge Martínez-Olguín emphasized that any proposed settlement should clearly demonstrate its justification in terms of value and structure to remain viable.
It’s worth noting that Sony is also involved in a class action lawsuit in the Netherlands. This lawsuit, led by the Dutch foundation Mass Damage & Consumer, is comparable to another one based in the EU. The focus of these lawsuits is on Sony’s pricing strategies for its PlayStation products, encompassing both hardware and games.
According to Lucia Melcherts, chairperson of the Mass Damage & Consumer foundation, there’s a trend among PS5 users that they are being steered towards ‘digital-only’ consoles. Unlike traditional consoles with physical discs, these digital versions only support downloadable games. Interestingly, economic studies reveal that consumers end up paying about 47% more for the digital version of a game compared to its counterpart on a physical disc, despite Sony having lower distribution costs.
In their lawsuit, Mass Damage & Consumer argue that Sony requires third-party game publishers and creators to exclusively sell their products via the PlayStation Store. The announcement of this lawsuit points out that Sony holds a dominant market position, which has resulted in approximately EUR 435 million in damages to the Dutch economy since 2013.
As a passionate advocate, I expressed my concerns in our recent announcement. Essentially, Sony appears to restrict developers’ commercial autonomy by requiring them to sell their games exclusively via the PlayStation Store. Moreover, Sony retains the power to determine the prices at which these developers’ titles will be displayed digitally. Consequently, developers forgo the ability to self-determine pricing and weaken their bargaining position as commercial entities.
As the lawsuit officially gets underway towards the end of the year, we’re likely to uncover further insights about it.
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2025-07-21 19:12