It would appear that the ongoing legal spat between Apple and Epic Games has prompted up further legal uprisings against digital game stores’ business practices. It’s the best explanation for why there’s recently been a class action lawsuit proposed by consumers against Sony for the way the company operates its PlayStation Store.
The lawsuit, which was filed this past Wednesday, claims that Sony stopped allowing third-party retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy, to sell download codes for PlayStation games two years ago, resulting in a monopoly on digital PlayStation game sales.
“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.”
According to some figures gathered by lawyers in the suit, popular games are sold 75% more on the PlayStation store than physically and could go up as high as 175%. Furthermore, lawyers claim that $7 billion of Sony’s $17 billion revenue in the fiscal year that ended in March 31st came from overcharging for digital games.
Sony has yet to respond to calls for comment. As for the case itself, it has yet to achieve any sort of trial date and is currently only a proposed lawsuit.
