A new lawsuit affirms that Sony Interactive Entertainment that PlayStation is operating a monopoly by restricting third-party retailers to sell download codes for PlayStation Games.
Back in 2019, Sony announced its decision to exclusively sell digital games on the PlayStation Store, forcing gamers to pay to the PlayStation Store or find a physical version of the game on retail. The lawsuit seems to prove that consumers often spend up to 175% more to download a game on the PlayStation Store than the same on disk.
Some PlayStation users questions the exclusivity imposition of 2019:
“Sony’s monopoly allows it to charge supracompetitive prices for digital PlayStation games, which are significantly higher than their physical counterparts sold in a competitive retail market, and significantly higher than they would be in a competitive retail market for digital games,” the consumers said.
Certainly, the PlayStation Store is sometimes frustrating, some older games stay at high prices regardless of the discount offers on other platforms. The lawsuit tries to revert the situation by allowing Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, and other retailers to sell download codes for PlayStation Store’s games.
At the moment of publishing, Sony Interactive Entertainment has not commented on the lawsuit. Those interested to read the full lawsuit can get more details by searching Caccuri v. Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC, 3:21-cv-03361, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).
In recent news from PlayStation, the company had a very successful financial year 2020, the launch of the PS5 along with the launch of The Last of Us Part II, and Ghost of Tsushima led the Japanese giant to report significant profits.
Sony Interactive Entertainment paid a big bonus equivalent to seven months’ salary to Japanese employees. PlayStation users also received AAA free-to-play games with PlayStation Plus and the relaunch of the Play at Home Initiative.
Source: Bloomberg
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