Sony Could Face Class-Action Lawsuit

A class action lawsuit filed by gamers alleges that Sony has acted anticompetitive by denying digital download codes for PlayStation games to third parties such as Amazon and Walmart, Bloomberg reported on Thursday (May 6th).

In the lawsuit, PlayStation is accused of restricting the downloading of games to its own store in 2019. As a result, Sony’s PlayStation Store was the only place to get digital PlayStation games, and users paid around 175 percent more for downloadable games than the hard drive equivalent. via Bloomberg.

“Sony’s monopoly allows it to charge over-competitive prices for PlayStation digital games that are significantly higher than their physical counterparts sold in a competitive retail market and significantly higher than a competitive digital game retail market,” according to the company Consumers in the proposed lawsuit.

A Sony spokesman told GameRiv tThe move to bypass third-party providers should “align important companies globally”.

“To support full games and premium editions, SIE will introduce higher denominations at selected retailers. DLC, add-ons, virtual currencies and season tickets are still available, ”said the spokesman on GameRiv.

The class action lawsuit has been filed in the Northern California (San Francisco) District Court, Caccuri v Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC, 3: 21-cv-03361.

Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation have dominated game consolesEvery few years the competition for the holiday season heats up. Gaming market researcher Newzoo estimated last year that 2.7 billion people are expected to play a video game over the course of the year. It has been predicted that gamers around the world will spend around $ 160 billion in 2020.

Last month, Microsoft launched its cloud gaming service on iPhones, iPads and PCs. The service that allows users to stream games without downloading them continues to roll out in 22 countries.

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