Sony Monopolizing Game Distribution for PS5 DE Console: Complaint
Sony Interactive Entertainment and parent Sony Group are forcing owners of the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition to buy digital copies of games for the console exclusively through the PlayStation Store and not through the competitive retail channels that sold content…
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on physical Blu-rays for previous PlayStation console generations and continue doing so for the standard PS5, alleged a complaint (in Pacer) in U.S. District Court in San Francisco that seeks class-action status. The PS5 DE, $399, lacks the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray-compatible disc drive of the standard PS5 priced for $100 more. Game discs for the standard PS5 are readily available for sale at Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Walmart, but both console versions are sold out nearly everywhere as Sony struggles to meet unexpectedly strong demand (see 2104280003). “Sony eliminated competition in the PS5 video game distribution market by refusing to allow retail outlets to sell digital copies" of videogames for the PS5 DE, said the complaint Friday. “This conduct is anticompetitive and violates federal antitrust law.” Consumers are forced to buy games through the Sony-owned and operated PlayStation Store app that’s preloaded on the PS5 DE, said the suit. Sony disallows other apps that enable consumers to play videogames on the PS5 DE, and doesn’t let digital download codes sold by retailers to be redeemed through the PlayStation Store, it said. The lack of a “truly competitive environment” has reduced the “output and supply” of PS5 games “because developers are barred from selling these games at prices below Sony’s mandated and inflated 30% marked-up price” at the PlayStation Store, it said. The suit identifies the potential class as all U.S. consumers who bought a game digitally through the PS5 DE’s PlayStation Store app from the console’s Nov. 12 launch to the present. It seeks treble damages, plus an injunction “permanently enjoining Sony from continuing the unlawful conduct alleged here.” Sony didn’t comment Monday.