Class Action Lawsuit Claims Sony Has Monopoly on PS Store Games

It is a bit rubbish you can’t buy download codes anymore. Sites like CDKeys were great. I guess you could buy currency but it isn’t the same. I honestly don’t think this would hold up in court unless they specifically mean the PS5 Digital Edition. It’s a closed market there, nowhere else as you can buy physical games for those consoles.

Well that's console market, sony sells the console cheap so they have to make profits from games sales. I wish customer can sells digital games on psn though.

@nessisonett whenever I want something digitally I always go to shopto first and buy the wallet top up, gotta save them pennies wherever possible

I don't really care myself but buying codes was cool way to gift games, which is not a feature on PSN.

Another frivolous lawsuit. Sony is the platform holder and PS Store is run by them, so what do you expect? Also, CDKeys and such are grey market resellers.

@Mintie Yeah, it’s not a huge saving but it’s better than nothing.

So the game developers can't release retail codes themselves for their own games??? This doesn't sound too fair to me! as said above already interesting to see what happens?

Of course, they control retail prices too... looking at you PS5 Games MSRP grumble

Good and I hope they lose. We need more competitive pricing.

What I find disgusting, and people will argue against me, is the price of digital games being higher than physical. That's the absolute opposite of how it should be and they are purely praying on people wanting the game at midnight or quickly.

Printing discs and shipping them all over the world is more expensive than a little bandwidth. So how can they justify selling a digital game for £55-£60 at launch when it is £45 in the supermarkets.

It should be cheaper on the digital store to encourage people to rely less on physical.

This new £70 price bracket for games is terrible too so I'll always borrow or wait for huge discounts now.

How are games more expensive on the store? Its pretty much the RRP, Game charge the same amount and its only really supermarkets what go a lot lower.

@Omniicron You do realise supermarkets sell at a loss right? Go to Game and they charge the same as the PSN store as they stick to RRP.

Buy a console with a disc drive 🤷‍♂️

@WallyWest GAME are generally a rip off (I worked there briefly but quit because I felt like a criminal taking bags of games off kids for pennies.)

Besides GAME, you will find a normal launch game is cheaper pretty much everywhere compared to the store. Anywhere from Amazon, Play, all supermarkets and catalogues.

@Omniicron Yeah because those places are selling at a loss.

@WallyWest I've seen plenty of websites selling games cheaper then the RRP

Not sure how this might hold up in a corp I mean court of law, but I'm not one to be upset about challenging corporate status quo. So hopefully it does go somewhere.

@WallyWest They aren't buying at RRP because they buy in bulk. Economies of scale and all that. Besides, why do you care if ASDA sell you something at a loss?
Anybody who argues FOR a closed market... well... You cant argue with those people lol

@Omniicron

I agree.

I use GameFly still as a way to demo games I'm interested in before buying along with renting games I had no intention of buying. Sometimes I end up keeping a game I had no real interest in.

As for digital, yeah, I wait for super cheap PSN sales now. I treat games like any other product. Why would I ever want to pay full price when I can simply wait and get the same thing at a reduced price? If I'm being honest with myself, my backlog is so large I don't ever need to buy a game at launch again.

As an owner of the PS5 digital edition I wouldn’t mind if Sony loses this lawsuit

Mixed views on this. Physically will always be cheaper until digital returns and trades are possible. Now if this would encourage that from Sony I’d support it. After all, there is no substantive difference between this and the argument that Sony do not allow a second hand marketplace, which reduces prices by far more than the 175% mentioned here.

But we aren’t talking about that, we are talking about other (re)sellers wanting to take very slightly less of your money, but taking funds from the platform holder.

And, in terms of fairness, there is nothing stopping other companies from developing a platform and shop and encouraging devs to port games to it. Apart from the risk of losing investment. Yet Sony, MS, Nintendo, Apple etc were willing to take this risk. Why should resellers be able to force their way into something which is not an essential service and other companies have paid to develop? Next they’ll be asking to sell in there without paying the platform holder a fee (looking at you Epic).

Now people might say “as a customer, why should you care? Put aside principles of fairness and rationality and simply look after your own interests”, yet I’m not really convinced that taking away loads of money from the company subsidising your console (Sony sell PS5 at a loss) and making most of your AAA exclusives at financial risk, will really lead to a better situation for PS gamers.

Then again, cheaper games...it’s a difficult one that I don’t think will be rationally discussed any time soon.

Which is why, wherever possible, I will always buy physical.

I like to hold my possessions.

@Kang81 Exactly. For single player story games I'm old enough to not get too excited now and just wait. Look at the price of TLOU2 etc now.
However, the problem comes when it's a big multiplayer game which you want to start fresh with friends. You want it at launch so why should the PS Store get away with charging £10 above the price in a general store. Dirty tactics.

@2cents Yep. You paid less for the console because it lacked hardware. So why should you now have to pay inflated software prices for the next 7 years. For someone who buys plenty of games think of the additional spend over a long period. Ridiculous.

@WallyWest

I believe he may be referring to the fact that digital copies of games have a higher profit margin over physical. Digital games no longer have to worry about packaging, shipping, retailer cuts, etc. So yes, digital games should be fairly cheaper than physical.

It's no different than ebooks having a lower price point, or digital copies of movies/CD's having a lower price point than their physical counterparts. I firmly believe its why there is a growing trend of "physical packaged" games ending up being just a case with a download code inside.

I'm all for these companies making money so they can keep producing entertainment for us, but I and many other consumers aren't going to just throw our money at them.

I'm hoping Sony gets a slap for their digital prices. Zero excuse for them being as high or higher than physical prices. Digital games can't be sold on, don't have manufacturer/shipping costs and don't have retailers taking a slice.

It is daylight robbery!!!

@Omniicron

Yeah, it's a different scenario for MP games. Thankfully for me I have up MP games at the launch period of the PS4/XB1. Destiny was the last game I played PvP in since the 360/PS3 era. That game has become such a joke now that I no longer play PvP at all.

PvE co-op is different, but I still no longer buy into the live service co-op games. Destiny and Anthem burned me on that. The Division I feel was good, but I didn't play it like Destiny, I treated it as a usual co-op buddy shooter RPG with my brother, it just required an online connection. (Ugh, which I am also done with)

So it's just traditional co-op for me from here on out.

@Kang81 That was my main point yes, bandwidth costs less than physically printing and packaging items, driving/flying/shipping them all over the world to stores in little towns (and STILL selling them cheaper). It's completely backwards and clearly shows the unreasonable profit margin Sony have added. We're already paying for PS Plus which contributes towards the upkeep of their network.

Here in the states, I buy PSN gift cards from Target. They occasionally have discounts of 5% or 10% off, but you always get an additional 5% off if you use your Target credit card. It doesn't save much, but saving some on the currency and then buying a game on sale can really stack the savings.

I use www.psprices.com to set up price alerts.

I'm glad to see this happening.

a lot of the online codes are purchased with stolen bank info or credit card info unfortunately, the problem with download codes sold in physical shops is that they're never reduced in price like sales and therefore generally absolute weird garbage

Huh, was wondering why sites like cdkeys or eneba, didn't have ps games available. Just pc and xb. Now I know, and i hope sony loses.

@wiiware I couldn't agree more about have the ability to resell digital games. I have a handful of games that I would love to resell, but they'll forever be locked to my account. It's a shame. :/

On here you have people that will literally defend anything Sony do and claim “it doesn’t bother them” - you are the people that created micro transactions- items being removed from games and sold as dlc - and all of the grubby practises that infect the industry we love.

Nowt frivolous about this....

Put down your controller and read some books get some knowledge.

They definitely have a monopoly if they have 100% market share of digital games and ban anyone else from selling. Interested to see how this plays out.

@Stocksy You can't argue with stupid people.

The store has always been a rip off unless they're having a sale.

For example :
Biomutant PS4
Smyth's Toys Physical Disc posted = £44.99
PSN download = £54.99

I mean how can that be justified?

@carlos82 You're absolutely right - get a console with a disc drive.

Recommend those buying digital games at launch to go to Shopto.net, buy a PSN top up and its almost like you get a discount on the digital title. A £100 top up costs just under £90, so could help to make up some of the price difference from the physical version

Singling out Sony on this isn't really a good angle for the lawsuit, and that will kill the claims easily. But these lawsuits do need to happen. The "digital storefront" is a new creature, and existing laws don't properly cover them. MS, also has the same policy now. Nintendo introduced that policy into Europe, but in the US they still sell codes I believe. That won't last forever. It's clear these companies are making this switch specifically to prevent consumers from using currency conversion rates (as they themselves do) to realize savings. Globalism is for the corporation, not the consumer. "It's supposed to be a one-way street, and how dare consumers find a way to benefit, it was supposed to hurt them alone!" And along with it, they found they can suppress the very idea of retail competition. As the digital stores begin to make up nearly the entire sales channel (69%!) it's past time that something is done with the idea of these walled garden stores that are designed to prevent monopoly powers. Same for Apple. Not the same for Android because there actually are competing, if not "official" stores there, such as Amazon. Maybe Amazon can white knight the cause so they can get a piece of the pie.

It's past time the digital market started being treated like the physical market rather than obtaining some sort of special laissez-faire treatment. Alternatively it would be only fair if they stopped treating the physical market different and started allowing unfettered monopolies in every sector of physical retail as well.

This needs to happen, but this individual company-focused class action suits aren't the way. It needs to be a larger government-level push to start getting legislation on the structure of the market, not on an individual actor alone.

@FatalBubbles
Yeah, Phil, who runs the corner shop on my road, has a disgusting monopoly in his shop too; I find it so appalling that I shop elsewhere.

This is not an essential service. If another company wants to make a platform and store they can. They don’t because there is financial risk in that. They just want to be able to sell in other peoples stores instead.

Bit late aren't they? None of the console platforms have this option any more. Are they going to go after Microsoft and Nintendo too? Probably not because the 'cool' thing is to hate Sony these days while giving everyone else a free pass.

I find it outrageous that I can only buy a Dyson vacuum from Dyson!

And did you know that if you want attachments for a Dyson vacuum you ALSO have to buy them from Dyson?

If I want to vacuum my floor they have a complete monopoly on their own product!

Games are more expensive? Uhhhhhhhh most of my games are digital cuz I got them so darn cheap off the PS Store lol.

@thefourfoldroot I don’t think you understand what a monopoly is?

@GADG3Tx87 As of this morning, Amazon sells digital codes for Xbox and Nintendo. So not sure where you’re getting your info.

I am the most left-wing, anti-corporate person I know, but c'mon - be serious. This is not a monopoly.

If I make a product then I am allowed to sell that product.

Sony does not have a monopoly because there are a zillion other ways to purchase video games - different formats, different stores, different brands, etc.

If they were selling teleporters and you could only buy a teleporter from them, then that's a monopoly. However, Sony makes a product that is available elsewhere.

I also think the price in online stores is atrocious, and if physical discs ever go away then we have a big problem. But this "monopoly" angle is currently baseless and I would be shocked if a judge thinks there is any merit to these accusations.

@FatalBubbles
I assure you I do. Sony, MS, and Nintendo, have a platform and sell stuff for that platform in their stores. None have a monopoly on the videogames market, obviously, just as Apple do not have a monopoly on smartphones (in fact, all companies have a fraction of the total market). If there are multiple avenues to purchase a product, from different companies with different platforms, then there is no monopoly. If people don’t want to buy these games from Sony then they can buy them on other platforms.

@FatalBubbles
That's odd because every physical game shop I've visited in the last 5 years no longer sells them. I'm in the UK.

To echo some good posts in the thread: This issue runs wider than the PlayStation store. As we move toward an all digital future, the legislative groundwork needs to be laid now to combat this type of potential behaviour.

Indie developers in particular are currently completely at Sony’s mercy in these matters. Also those with digital PS5’s. More accountability and/or more options here is needed.

@GADG3Tx87 Maybe it’s a US thing only then. Could explain our confusion.

@KippDynamite Err, you can buy Dysons at two dozen different retailers who all compete on price.

You can buy digital Playstation games only from Playstation. (and digital Xb games only from MS, digital NSW games only from Nintendo, and digital iPhone apps only from Apple) That's the whole point of the difference - zero competition possible, which defeats the nature of a free market. It's not a Sony problem, though. It's an industry/world problem.

@NEStalgia you can buy digital Xbox games from CD Keys? I’m not sure they have the same policy as Sony.

Digital games are a bit more expensive which is a tad frustrating, but to be honest, I only buy a digital game when it is something that both me and my girlfriend are going to play together at the same time, making it cheaper than buying 2 physical copies.

Ideally though, I would like to see digital games the same price as retail, well no, I'd like to see them cheaper, but that won't ever happen. Let's not forget as well, it isn't just PlayStation who do this, they all do to a certain extent.

Older games are less on PSN sales. I like physical games more but do buy many games on PSN sales for the lower price. If there is a price difference Sony will force the price up from the short seller not bring the price down for Digital.

@Galadhur Maybe a person who buys Physical will sue to get 2 copies of physical games next.

@NEStalgia
If you don't like how Dyson does things then buy a different brand of vacuum. Since there is no monopoly on vacuums you are permitted to do this.

Sony DO have a complete stranglehold ON THEIR OWN PRODUCTS, IN THEIR OWN STORE. If this case goes before a judge, the judge will say "is there anywhere else you can buy video games? What market share does Sony have on all video games?" It is obvious a person can buy video games elsewhere.

@JohnKarnes it's a personal choice at the end of the day. Borderlands 3 for a tenner was the best digital purchase I've ever made, me and my GF got about 60 hours out of it in total. I guess it depends on whether people are prepared to wait for sales.

That headline is technically right. Monopoly Plus is 12 quid on PSN 😉

You can buy digital keys for playstation games on Eneba.com

So how does that happen then?

@gollumb82 Steam send their regards.

@KippDynamite I think you're missing my point on two fronts. Dyson is a non-issue. There is no monopolistic selling of Dyson brand, or the vacuum category. No form of Dyson products are restricted to direct-purchase only. It's just an unrelated comparison to make.

And, yes, I agree, a judge looking specifically at this case against Sony would be right in comparing that there's no direct monopoly in the video games market by Sony. My point is there is an issue not represented by this particular case that needs to be raised at a market (government) level regarding many issues of digital storefronts. Not just Sony, but the concept of how digital marketplaces across the tech industry have emerged and developed without a legal framework that covers them in a way that runs at cross purposes of a free market. Monopoly marketplaces with zero consumer protection, no returns, all sales always final, zero chance for competition, etc. It's not "Sony" that is problematic on their own. The US and EU (and other places) need to bring their business regulations up to the late 20th century with regard to digital sales, monopolies, consumer protection, copyright and trademark, IP law, etc. We're a decade past due for such things. Not just for consumer protection, but for market protection in general, including other business. We've established a feudal model that a half dozen megacorps really control all other business within their sectors, precisely what regulations are supposed to have been preventing. Like I said, it's not an issue with Sony in particular, or this case in particular. It's a general business regulation issue for a relatively new business model that has grown ungainly without any referee.

@Fenbops Well, what do you know! I just checked, and you're right. I'm not sure what to make of that TBH. I remember Sony ending the digital codes sometime around Death Stranding. I remember MS announcing they were ending it maybe 6 months after that. And a few months after that I remember Nintendo announcing they were ending it in the EU specifically, but not NA (yet.) Amazon and major retailers do seem to have discontinued it. But for a measure that was clearly aimed at stopping the exchange rate shopping, how on earth does CD Keys, the place that represented the target they were trying to stop, end up the only place still selling them??

I'm not sure if that makes the situation better or worse. You're right then, Sony's uniquely problematic in this....kind of....but I'm not sure MS and Nintendo are many ladder rungs above since the concept is still dead at normal retail avenues.

@SegataSanshiro Absolutely. I've been saying for years this is a problem. The fact you can purchase a license but not sell a license alone is a massive, gaping, legal non-sequitur. Since the 90's companies have wanted to have it both ways. They want to tell you you're not buying content, you're buying a license, but then they want to tell you your license is just content and isn't transferable. Even if we just address that one massive hole we're 300% ahead of the curve. The idea, on paper, is ridiculous if you compare to two commonly traded commodities: Automobiles and real estate. You don't actually buy a car. You buy a title of ownership on the car. A license. You can also sell it, or give it to others. You don't technically buy real estate. You buy a deed to the [exclusive access of] property. Which you can sell, or bestow. A license, if you will. The idea that digital marketplaces have codified the idea of buying a non-transferable license at retail ownership price has always been at odds with case law, and wouldn't stand up 5 minutes if challenged in court. But even EFF never has challenged it. If real estate companies could make the land simply vaporize into thin air and invent a new license the next time somebody wants access to it, that they don't need to pay the prior owner to purchase back, they would have done so, too. Idiot stone-age legislators in the 90's (half of which are still sitting in the same chairs) let the tech industry cast itself as some sort of underdog in a harsh world, and build it's own empire however it saw fit, completely laissez faire, without any conventional business and market oversight applied. Of course no companies are going to actually draft fair contracts if nobody is going to hold their feet to the legal fire. I'm not a huge fan of government power interfering in things, but any game without rules or referees eventually becomes nothing but a protection racket.

@Wiggo Me too. I like to hold them, stroke them and sometimes I lick them.

@vhsodre
Steam is the origin of the problem of shady sites selling semi-legal game keys. Been there, seen it, not going to bother with guys who live in Europe and are ok with buying games in Argentina or Brazil using VPN because they don't care about the developers and their work.

Good. It's about time those with the wool pulled over their eyes thinking PSN etc will be competitively priced like on the PC space with steam and the various storefronts that fight it out

@Kang81 I don't know where you are, but in the UK eBooks are routinely the same price or more expensive than a paperback, but that's partlya weirdness of different rates of tax

There's no Dyson store that I'm aware of.

Also like, why would the digital copies solely belong to Sony but not the physical copies?

Defending this practice is beyond bizarre.

PS5 digital edition owners should be happy about this lawsuit.

@RubyCarbuncle
Games are not cheap, that much we can agree on. However, what you said is flawed logic to me. It's equivalent to buying a luxury car and then not wanting to pay for petrol because it's expensive. I buy games at a discount mostly, so if you want to play on day one then the price is going to be steep.

Prediction: Sony will win.

I see from the comments that for many it is hard to understand why disks in retail may cost less than digital copies which aren't physically produced.

First, nothing is priced at the cost. Everything is priced at the market rate, and you drop the price down to move more copies.
Second, retail stores have more immediate competition from second hand games market. They have to drop prices. But PSN is affected by that as well. That's why older games are offered for less there.

@Total_Weirdo is it me, or does it seem that SONY is trying to self destruct?

@viktorcode I think the reason why digital games is price the same as the physical copies is because the developers need to pay the platform holder 30% of their game's sale. - (something that doesn't affect Sony, so why the price hike to $70)

You can only buy a Big Mac from McDonald’s. You can only buy a Whooper from Burger King.
I realize you guys have no ideia what monopoly is, and just talk a lot of childish nonsense. It’s really sickening.

@theheadofabroom

I'm in the land of the insane...err...'Murica! 🤦‍♂️

Amazon here in the US has Kindle versions for much cheaper than physical, most of the time. I believe Barnes & Noble was/is the same, but I have shopped there in so long I can no longer recall.

@Kang81 Yeah, in the UK there's no VAT on books (think 20% sales tax) but eBooks aren't included in that.

I feel like maybe publishers shouldn't be trying to get 83% or more of the pre-tax price of a paperback for something with a 100% margin, but I guess they're trying to encourage people to stick with paper, seeing as that's the thing which makes it prohibitively expensive for new publishers to spring out of the woodwork and eat their lunch, rather than it being pure greed.

The same argument becomes more difficult with software as there's no VAT relief. Publishers who still release physical copies outsource most of the production anyway, and the model is closer to that of film production anyway. By this I mean that publishers will pay an advance to fund the completion of a project, but unlike with a book where it only has to pay the author's expenses for the life of the project, you are suddenly paying for a studio and all the external production costs.

@gollumb82 I'm from Brazil. I have to deal with Sony selling old PS3 games for almost half of our minimum wage. Besides, Steam changed after that whole Horizon Zero Dawn debacle.

@vhsodre
It's not much better in Poland, my friend, if you compare the prices of games to salaries. Same goes for the prices of electronics, cars etc. Still, I prefer to wait for discounts and buy games then, rather than resorting to shady practices. I'm not judging you or anyone. It's just my approach to the matter.

@gollumb82 my problem is with Sony. I would like to buy a couple of PS3 games but it's way overpriced for years. Besides that, there are no sales for PS3 games since December 2019 and, before that, they only offered a small number of titles. So, how can I buy those games?
On Steam, by the way, my account is set correctly.