Sony sued in Netherlands over "Sony Tax" and its perceived monopoly on digital sales

Sony is being sued in a Dutch class action lawsuit over artificially inflated prices on the PlayStation Store.

The lawsuit has been filed by Dutch non-profit organisation Stichting Massaschade & Consument on behalf of 1.7 million Dutch PlayStation users.

The organisation has accused Sony of “abusing its dominant position in the console market for at least a decade”, according to a press release shared with Eurogamer. Due to the increased prevalence of digital sales and digital-only consoles, the organisation claims Sony has a monopoly over digital sales – what it has dubbed a “Sony Tax”.

The lawsuit is part of the organisation’s “Fair PlayStation” campaign, which it launched in February and attracted over 20,000 participants in its first week.

“Many people have noticed they’re increasingly being pushed towards ‘digital-only’ consoles since the arrival of the latest PS5 generation,” said Lucia Melcherts, chair of Stichting Massaschade & Consument.

“These consoles work exclusively with digital games rather than physical discs. Yet economic research shows that consumers pay on average 47 percent more for a digital version of a game compared to an identical physical copy – even though Sony’s distribution costs are significantly lower.”