Announcements — 21/02/2025

Geradin Partners assists Stichting Massaschade & Consument in a collective action against Sony

This week, Stichting Massaschade & Consument (SMC), supported by Geradin Partners, has officially launched a campaign for its collective action against Sony on behalf of Dutch PlayStation users. The case addresses Sony’s abuse of its dominant market position, which has led to inflated prices for digital PlayStation games and in-game content.

For over a decade, Sony has enjoyed a position of dominance in the game console market which has allowed it to restrict the sale of digital PlayStation games to exclusively its PlayStation Store, thereby preventing any type of competition in the sale of such games whose pricing it also controls.

As a result, more than a million consumers in the Netherlands, and many more in other markets, have overpaid for digital games – sometimes as much as 47% more compared to physical copies of the same titles.  The lawsuit seeks compensation for affected consumers in the Netherlands and ensure that Sony adjusts its distribution and pricing practices in a way that no longer harms them.  The case follows similar legal actions in Portugal and the United Kingdom, where courts are also reviewing Sony’s restrictive business practices, thus playing a central role facilitating more fairness and competition within Sony’s ecosystem.  

Geradin Partners will serve as the lead competition law counsel in the case, working in close cooperation with Stek Advocaten and Milberg Amsterdam.

At this initial phase, Sony has been invited to engage in discussions. If these do not lead to the desired result, Sony will be challenged in court under the Dutch class action regime, the WAMCA.  By now the claim has gained the support of over 15,000 Dutch consumers who have agreed to take part in it and be represented by the SMC in this procedure, and many more are expected to join in the coming weeks. If successful, this lawsuit could open the PlayStation ecosystem to competition for the first time in over a decade, leading to fairer pricing and better consumer protection.

Contacts:

Ruben Elkerbout: relkerbout@geradinpartners.com

Stijn Huijts: shuijts@geradinpartners.com

Author

Ruben Elkerbout

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