Sony PlayStation Faces Multi-Billion UK Class Action

  • Sony Group Corp SONY PlayStation faced a potential opt-out U.K. class action suit for allegedly overcharging for games and in-game purchases, Bloomberg reports.
  • Any U.K. buyer of digital games or extra content on their console or through the PlayStation store since August 2016 is a plaintiff.
  • London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal charged Sony for abusing its market dominance by imposing unfair conditions on developers, ultimately passing on “excessive and unfair” prices to consumers. 
  • Customer loyalty enabled Sony to exploit the drive towards in-game purchases by charging them exorbitantly on every digital purchase.
  • Once the judge certifies the claim, it could sweep in 8.9 million customers and garner up to £5 billion ($5.9 billion) in damages.
  • Sony clocked a 2% sales growth in the first quarter of FY22 to ¥2.31 trillion. Total gameplay time for PlayStation users declined 15% Y/Y in Q1.
  • Sony cut its FY22 operating profit outlook to ¥1.11 trillion from ¥1.16 trillion as its PlayStation division stammered and game sales dropped.
  • Sony’s PlayStation 5 hardware production was hampered by COVID-19 lockdowns in China.
  • Price Action: SONY shares traded lower by 0.49% at $84.81 premarket on the last check Tuesday.
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