As reported by WCCFtech, the Dutch consumer organization Stichting Massaschade & Consument now believes it has an even stronger case in its €400 million ($457 million) lawsuit against Sony over the 30% rate it charges on every game sold through the PlayStation Store, a “Sony tax” that retail games are not subject to—the same retail games Sony has announced it will discontinue by 2028.
“The end of physical discs removes the last place where a PlayStation game could still be bought and sold at a competitive price,” SM&C chair Lucia Melcherts told WCCFtech. “No discs means no second-hand market and no alternative to the PlayStation Store, so from 2028, Sony alone decides what a game costs and even how long you are allowed to use it.
“That is exactly the harm our Fair PlayStation claim is about: a price can never be fair when the buyer is left with no ownership and no alternative.”
It’s illustrative to compare this situation with Epic’s Apple Store challenges and the antitrust lawsuits faced by Steam—with one brought against it by another, different Dutch consumer group. Apple, which sells the hardware and maintains its own storefront—a system which closely maps to Sony’s—was ultimately forced to relinquish some of control of that ecosystem.