A new lawsuit has been filed against PlayStation after a claim that the company has been “ripping off” customers with overpriced games, as well as other in-game purchases.
The lawsuit, which is worth $5.9 billion, came from nine million customers from the U.K. who pointed out that Sony has charged up to 30 percent in commission for digital games and in-game purchases over the last six years. Consumer rights advocate Alex Neill filed the collective lawsuit against Sony, representing all the customers.
“With this legal action I am standing up for the millions of UK people who have been unwittingly overcharged,” Neill said to Sky News. “We believe Sony has abused its position and ripped off its customers.
Neill also mentioned that Sony’s actions have cost “millions of people who can’t afford it, particularly,” while explaining that this has happened when people are “in the midst of a cost of living crisis and the consumer purse is being squeezed like never before.”
The claim applies to any resident of the U.K. who bought digital games or other in-game products on their console since Aug. 19, 2016. Also, those who purchased digital goods through the PlayStation Store may be eligible for receive compensation, which could range from $79 to $663 per person.
One of the case’s leading partners, Natasha Perman, also added to what Neill said, especially with how Sony created an “anti-competitive strategy. “Sony dominates the digital distribution of PlayStation games and in-game content – it has deployed an anti-competitive strategy which has resulted in excessive prices to customers that are out of all proportion to the costs of Sony providing its services,” Perman stated.
