In May 2021, PlayStation publisher Sony received a lawsuit from a group of gamers arguing that its PlayStation Store held an “unfair monopoly” of digital game sales. Over a year after the class-action suit was filed, it’s now been dismissed.
Originally, the group of gamers believed that the PS Store let Sony charge higher prices for digital PlayStation games compared to the games’ physical counterparts. The lawsuit suggested that more storefronts to purchase digital games would see more consumer friendly prices, and that PlayStation owners were currently paying 175 percent more for digital games.
Reported by Bloomberg on Friday, North California judge Richard Seeborg explained that the plaintiffs failed to “allege adequately anticompetitive conduct” on Sony’s end. That said, Seeborg “granted leave” to amend the class-action suit, meaning the plaintiffs can file again, with the complaint being reworked.
Sony came under fire in 2019 for blocking third-party retailers from selling digital games, no longer allowing stores like Amazon or GameStop to sell codes for PlayStation games. Outside of linking one’s credit card or third party service like PayPal, the only other option is to buy PlayStation Store cards at a physical retailer. In 2021, Sony revealed that their first-party PlayStation 5 games would be priced between $49.99 and $69.99. PlayStation 4 games would stay at the standard $59.99 price, but a digital upgrade to the PlayStation 5 would cost an additional $10.
