A London tribunal ruled on Tuesday that Sony (6758.T) must pay up to 6.3 billion pounds ($7.9 billion) in damages for allegedly abusing its dominating position in the PlayStation market to charge discriminatory rates to consumers.
On behalf of roughly nine million British consumers who purchased digital games or add-on content through Sony’s PlayStation Store, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) was sued last year.
The person launching the action against Sony is consumer advocate Alex Neill, who has worked on several campaigns before. She claims that the business exploited its dominant position by mandating that digital games and add-ons be purchased and sold exclusively through the PlayStation Store, which takes a 30% commission from publishers and developers.
According to the assertion, as a result, consumers have paid more than they otherwise would have for games and supplemental content.
Legal representatives for Sony claimed the lawsuit was “flawed from start to finish” and that it ought to be dismissed.
Although it said that those who had made PlayStation Store purchases after the action was filed in 2022 should be excluded from the proposed claimant class, the Competition Appeal Tribunal decided that Neill’s case should proceed.
“The first step in ensuring consumers get back what they’re owed” was what Neill called the verdict on Tuesday in a statement. Sony did not answer a request for a comment right away.