PlayStation Faces $7.85 Million Lawsuit for Allegedly Establishing Digital Game Monopoly on PlayStation - polygon.com

Sony finds itself in consumers' crosshairs once again

Sony could be eligible to pay settlement money to PlayStation users due to anti-competitive conduct, as the company has allegedly attempted to create a monopoly on digital PlayStation games. While a decision on Sony's alleged wrongdoing has not been made yet, a near-$8-million settlement has been preliminarily approved by the United States District Court of the Northern District of California. This lawsuit becomes particularly relevant now that Sony is betting on an all-digital future for its consoles.

In 2024, three PlayStation users filed a lawsuit against Sony, on behalf of themselves and others who purchased digital games through the PlayStation Store between Apr. 1, 2019, and Dec. 31, 2023. If the purchased games were previously available as Game Specific Vouchers (digital download codes sold by retailers), then users might be eligible for compensation if the court rules in favor of the plaintiffs.

When there was backlash against PlayStation consoles' digital-only future, Sony simply responded that terminating disc production would not affect it as a business, as most of its sales are digital. This has become a key factor in this current lawsuit against the company, as Sony's business model has resulted in iffy policies that ensure it is able to price digital products freely without consequence.

UK class-action lawsuit is challenging Sony's alleged monopoly over digital game sales

The PlayStation Global Developer and Publisher Agreement, addressed in the lawsuit, guarantees that a digital product's retail price is entirely up to Sony, greatly reducing price competition. The agreement has a Retail Price section in the Digitally Delivered Products clause (15.2.2) that is particularly questionable:

"Each SCE (Sony Computer Entertainment) Company has the sole and exclusive right to set the retail price to Users for Digitally Delivered Products sold or otherwise made available for purchase on or through PSN in its Territory, unless SCE adopts and presents to Publisher an alternative structure for distributing Digitally Delivered Products. The applicable SCE Company may modify any Digitally Delivered Product’s retail price at any time without notice to Publisher. Publisher shall not interfere with the applicable SCE Company’s price setting, but may provide SCE with suggested retail prices for Digitally Delivered Products. SCE reserves the right to adopt an alternative distribution model upon reasonable notice to Publisher."

Another key point in the lawsuit is a policy that went into effect on Apr. 1, 2019. The policy made it so retailers were no longer allowed to sell PlayStation digital download codes. It eliminated any remaining price competition on its digital content, as it prevented Game Specific Vouchers from being sold and forced users to purchase games directly through the PlayStation Store.

As a result of these acts, Sony has been accused of violating federal antitrust and state laws. The plaintiffs argue that Sony "engaged in anticompetitive conduct designed to monopolize the PlayStation digital game market." The settlement motion requests $7.85 million (minus fees and other legal expenses) to be distributed to affected players' PSN accounts.

All court documents are available on the PSN Digital Games Settlement website. United States citizens who have made eligible purchases on the PlayStation Store during the aforementioned period will automatically receive their share of the settlement in their PSN account if it is approved. The Fairness Hearing is scheduled for Oct. 15, 2026; this is when the final decision will be made regarding the proposed settlement.

With physical discs soon being phased out from Sony's future, these policies make it possible for it to assign its own prices to PSN-exclusive games and have the ultimate monopoly over digital media sales on PlayStation consoles. The decrease in games' affordability is something players feared when Sony announced it was ceasing physical disc production, especially as ending physical media means the second-hand market will no longer be an option.

Sony has made a point to express that "reasonable consumers" know they don't actually own digital media, but only wants to make said media available to them at whatever price it believes fair. This will only add fuel to players' current discontent with the company.

Ahead of an all-digital future for PlayStation, Sony needs to prove in courts that players know they don't own digitally purchased games