A Dutch consumer organization warns that if games are only available through PlayStation Store, Sony could concentrate pricing power entirely in its own hands.
Last week, Sony announced that it would stop producing new PlayStation game discs from January 2028. This could push even the retail market toward a digital-only future, as physical copies may contain nothing more than download codes.
The decision sparked enormous backlash. Fans launched petitions to persuade Sony to reverse course, while Hideo Kojima publicly spoke about how sad he finds the possibility of physical games disappearing.
For Sony, however, this is not the only risk. The company is already fighting court cases in several countries concerning the operation, pricing, and market dominance of PlayStation Store.
In the United States, a class-action settlement related to allegedly excessive digital game prices received preliminary approval this spring. A judge had previously rejected an earlier version of the agreement.
In the United Kingdom, a £2 billion lawsuit brought by consumer advocate Alex Neill under the name PlayStation You Owe Us is proceeding before the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London. Sony argues there that its pricing reflects both its costs and the value of the platform.
The fight in the Netherlands is only beginning. Following the first hearing, Stichting Massaschade & Consument is continuing the Fair PlayStation case on behalf of around 1.7 million Dutch players.
The organization is seeking more than €400 million in compensation over the so-called Sony tax. The Dutch nonprofit launches collective actions for consumers and small businesses in mass-damages cases.
“The end of physical discs removes the final place where a PlayStation game could still be bought and sold at a competitive price. Without discs, there is no second-hand market and no alternative to PlayStation Store.”
“From 2028, Sony alone will decide how much a game costs and even how long you can use it. That is exactly the harm addressed by our Fair PlayStation claim: a price can never be fair when the buyer has no ownership rights and no alternative.” said Lucia Melcherts, chair of Stichting Massaschade & Consument.
Sony’s move to phase out discs has only intensified the wider debate surrounding the sale, pricing, and ownership of PlayStation games.
Because of the backlash over the planned end of physical media and the ongoing legal actions, the company is no longer facing pressure only from disappointed players. Courts, consumer organizations, and regulators are also examining how much control a single platform should be allowed to hold over an entire market.
Source: WCCFTech
