Last year, a lawsuit was filed against Sony alleging that they abuse its dominant position and charge excessive prices on the PlayStation Store. According to consumer rights campaigner Alex Neill, who filed the suit on behalf of 8.9 million PlayStation customers, Sony allegedly uses its near monopoly on the sale of digital games and add-on content for PlayStation consoles to enforce strict terms and conditions on game developers and publishers. Sony tried to stop the suit, arguing that the case was  “flawed from start to finish.” However, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal approved the suit to go to trial.

The official announcement reads: “Today, 21 November 2023, in a judgment handed down by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), Alex Neill has been granted approval to go to trial with a £5bn claim against SonyPlayStation. This marks a significant first victory for the claimants as Sony lost their battle to block the claim on both the merits of the case and the funding arrangements.”

The suit says that these terms enabled Sony to allegedly dictate the price of digital content and charge a 30% commission on every purchase, which “results in excessive and unfair prices to consumers” that are “out of all proportion to the costs of Sony providing these services to its customers.”

“This is the first step in ensuring consumers get back what they’re owed as a result of Sony breaking the law,” said Neill. “PlayStation gamers’ loyalty has been taken advantage of by Sony who have been charging them excessive prices for years.

“It is significant that the competition court has recognised Sony must explain its actions by ordering them to trial. With this action we are seeking to put a stop to this unlawful conduct and ensure customers are compensated.”

“We are delighted to have achieved certification for our claim against Sony,” Natasha Pearman, Partner, Milberg Londo, who is leading the litigation said. “Companies who break the law must be held to account and we are determined to ensure this happens and consumers get access to justice. We hope that the certification of our claim provides some clarity as to acceptable litigation funding agreements in the post-PACCAR environment for opt-out claims.”

Litigation funding is integral to the collective action regime. When a company as large as
Sony breaks the rules consumers often have no idea it is even happening, let alone have the
resources to take them on – litigation funding helps to level the playing field. That is why
group legal claims like ours are so important, they provide a route to accessing justice that
simply doesn’t exist otherwise.”

Charlie Morris, Chief Investment Officer for Woodsford, commented:

” Woodsford is proud to be funding Alex Neill and delighted that this is the first collective
action where the funding arrangements have been approved following the seminal Supreme
Court decision in PACCAR. Sony sought to advance numerous unmeritorious and opportunistic arguments, all of which unsurprisingly failed.

Defendants to these actions would be better advised to resolve meritorious actions in a
speedy and cost-efficient way rather than spending millions on spurious and ultimately
unsuccessful satellite disputes aimed solely at stymying access to justice.”

The 8.9 million PlayStation customers includes anyone who lived in the UK and bought games or DLC though the PlayStation Store between August 19, 2016, and August 19, 2022, unless they choose to opt out.

If the lawsuit is successful, those who opt in will be entitled to anywhere between  £67 and £562 in damages, plus interest.