Dutch PlayStation gamers are up in arms about what they call the unfair 'Sony tax.' Their collective anger has been mobilized today in a class action suit against Sony, alleging monopolistic practices. In brief, legal representatives of the 'Fair PlayStation' campaign say that “consumers pay an average of 47% more for these digital versions than for exactly the same game on a physical disc” (machine translation used), as Sony leverages its monopoly on digital sales.
Research undertaken by the Dutch collective indicates that Sony has been “exploiting its dominant position in the console market for at least ten years,” with things made much worse by barring other app stores from the platform. It concludes that “at least 1.7 million Dutch PlayStation owners pay too much for digital games and in-game content.” In total, Dutch consumers have thus had to shell out €435 million ($505 million) more than they should have done since 2013, according to campaigners.
Wherever you live, though, new PlayStation 5 releases are expensive, and typically arrive at $69.99 in the U.S., for example. While Sony can easily control game pricing in its digital store, competing sellers of physical game media releases will often race to cut the margins they enjoy per game to aim for the volume market. This kind of healthy competition is being eroded by the introduction and promotion of the digital-only versions of consoles.
Lucia Melcherts, chair of Stichting Massaschade & Consument, speaking as a representative of the 'Fair PlayStation' campaign, points out that many gamers have spent very large sums on buying games for the PlayStation. She reckons that Sony is taking away the magic as it “unilaterally imposes new conditions and demands more money without offering anything in return.” That sounds like Sony is boiling the frog. The water got a little hotter in April, with Sony hiking prices of a wide range of its products as recently as April.
The way that Sony could implement such price hikes illustrates the boldness of its alleged monopolistic behavior in 2025. Melcherts asserts that the purported 'Sony tax' has come about as the firm “can now afford to make decisions without having to worry much about what competitors, developers, or consumers are doing.” This contrasts with how the digital-only console revolution was sold. With digital distribution reducing costs for the entertainment business, cheaper content was often implied. However, that doesn’t work with walled-garden systems that block competing digital stores.
In summary, the 'Fair PlayStation' campaign alleged that Sony is making double the margin on its digital sales, is enjoying the position of a monopolist with 80% of the Dutch console market, and maintains artificial walls around its on-console store. Sony’s restrictive practices aren’t good for developers and publishers, either.
The first legal hearing is scheduled for later in 2025. Ultimately, the consumer action group hopes that the Dutch courts will uphold their claims and force Sony to open the sale of digital PlayStation content for other providers.
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