A major court case is underway in the Netherlands against Sony, accusing the company of abusing its monopoly position and imposing inflated prices on digital games on the PlayStation Store, resulting in the so-called «Sony tax»
A major court case is underway in the Netherlands against Sony, accusing the company of abusing its monopoly position and imposing inflated prices on digital games on the PlayStation Store, resulting in the so-called «Sony tax»
As TechSpot reports, the Dutch Mass Damage & Consumer Foundation has filed a class action lawsuit against Sony, alleging €435 million in damages Dutch gamers have suffered since 2013 due to artificially inflated prices for games and DLC on the PlayStation Store.
The lawsuit was initiated by the Fair PlayStation campaign, which claims that more than 1.7 million Dutch PlayStation users pay approximately 47% more for digital copies of games than physical discs with the same content. At the same time, alternative app stores do not have access to the platform, which means that Sony completely controls the digital market of its ecosystem.
«Sony benefits in two ways: the cost of distributing digital copies is lower, and control over the platform allows it to dictate the price,» the plaintiffs note.
The company, which controls approximately 80% of the console market in the Netherlands, is also accused of abusing its position, in particular that Sony effectively blocks competition and prohibits third-party services from selling digital content for PlayStation.
The plaintiffs are seeking not only compensation but also the opening of the platform to other digital game and content providers. The first hearing in the case is expected this year.
This is not the first lawsuit against Sony over its digital sales policy. In the UK, human rights activist Alex Neal filed a $7.9 billion class action lawsuit in 2022, accusing the company of violating antitrust laws. In 2023, the court rejected Sony’s attempt to dismiss the case, and a hearing is scheduled for March 2026.
All of this comes against the backdrop of a general trend: both Sony and Microsoft are pushing disc-less consoles and gradually moving to all-digital sales. In April 2025, Sony also increased the price of the PS5 in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, explaining this by the difficult economic situation.
We also previously wrote about how gamers from the Russian Federation began to complain en masse about the blocking of PlayStation Network accounts that they created in other regions to circumvent Sony’s sanctions imposed due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
