Featured Image Credit: Photo by Olly Curtis/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Topics: PlayStation, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Sony
Topics: PlayStation, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Sony
PlayStation 5 users could soon potentially claim over £120 in refunds as a lawsuit launched against Sony is set to go to trial.
As reported by Metro, a class action lawsuit was filed against Sony in 2022 aledging that the company had overcharged customers on games purchased through the PlayStation Store in the UK since 2016.
Yesterday, on 10 March, that lawsuit finally went to trial and if that trial proves to be a success, Sony may be forced to pay out £2 billion to affected consumers.
It’s estimated that that could see PlayStation users end up with around £122 in refunds each.
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It’s worth pointing out that trials of this nature don’t often end very favourably; it’s not an easy task taking on a behemoth of the industry.
Even still, it’s impressive that this lawsuit has actually made it to court, so I’m sure many will be watching proceedings very closely.
Alex Neill and solicitors Milberg London LLP are behind the lawsuit.
On the campaign’s website, it lists five justifications for why Sony may have broken competition law.
“Sony has a near monopoly on the sale of digital games and add-on content through its control of the PlayStation Store,” the first point states.
The second adds that “Sony uses this dominance to enforce strict terms and conditions on game developers and publishers”.
The third reads, “These terms allow Sony to set the price of digital games and in-game content and charge a 30% commission on every purchase of digital games and in-game content from the PlayStation Store.”
The fourth claims that “this results in excessive and unfair prices to consumers for their digital games and in-game content”.
Finally, the campaign adds, “These prices are out of all proportion to the costs of Sony providing these services to its customers.”
As Metro points out, the 30% commission charge is actually an industry standard and is also used by both Steam and Xbox, so this could complicate matters for Neill’s team.
If the lawsuit does succeed, 12.2 million UK-based PlayStation users are expected to be affected.
The £122 refund is without interest, whilst it’s £162 if you factor interest in.
To potentially be eligible, you simply need to have purchased a digital game or DLC from the PlayStation Store in the UK between 19 August 2016 and 12 February 2026.
The trial is set to last for 10 weeks, with the end result due to land in May.