Sony Getting Sued?
Sony in Stichtings
In the land of cobblestones and clogs Sony finds themselves in a bit of hot water. The company is coud see a legal challenge in the Netherlands over contested ‘unfair’ pricing practices involving digital games and the Playstation online store. A group called Stichting Massaschade & Consumer is the one responsible for taking action against Sony, and in a statement on their site they put their case forward:
‘The gaming industry is bigger than the film, TV and music industry combined. Sony, as a manufacturer of the best-selling console in the world, is one of the most powerful – if not the most powerful – players on this market. And with so much power comes responsibilities. In the EU, it is illegal for large companies to abuse their position to make more profit at the expense of consumers. However, Sony does not fully comply with these rules.
If you buy a digital game or in-game content, Sony will only allow it to do so through its own PlayStation Store. Sony keeps the market for itself in this way and can keep prices artificially high. This way you pay more, without getting anything extra in return. This is called the “Sony Tax.”’
For brevity to those that don’t want to read (or don’t quite grasp) the statement: Stichting Massaschade & Consumer argues that Sony, by limiting sales of digital PS5 games to the Playstation store, has too much control over pricing of digital games, and stops potential competition from other marketplaces that might sell digital games for a lower price.
It’s not a fact that this will make it to court, but if it does would could see something similar to the Apple vs. Epic case.
Playing videogames, writing about videogames, considering videogames—that about sums it up. Videogames are the one hobby that I’ve kept since I was only little, zapping ducks on the NES or knocking out MR. X. And when I’m not enjoying classics from the bit generation of games or checking out those earliest of polygons, I’m probably playing something from today’s age of modern gaming: if I’m not complaining about it. Something I’m doing at the moment? Taking the Nintendo Switch 2 for a spin.
