Sony PlayStation Faces Multi-Billion UK Class Action

Sony Group Corp SONY PlayStation faced a potential opt-out U.K. class action suit for allegedly overcharging for games and in-game purchases, Bloomberg reports.
Any U.K. buyer of digital games or extra content on their console or through the PlayStation store since August 2016 is a plaintiff.
London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal charged Sony for abusing its market dominance by imposing unfair conditions on developers, ultimately passing on “excessive and unfair” prices to consumers.
Customer loyalty enabled Sony to exploit the drive towards in-game purchases by charging them exorbitantly on every digital purchase.
Once the judge certifies the claim, it could sweep in 8.9 million customers and garner up to £5 billion ($5.9 billion) in damages.
Sony clocked a 2% sales growth in the first quarter of FY22 to ¥2.31 trillion. Total gameplay time for PlayStation users declined 15% Y/Y in Q1.
Sony cut its FY22 operating profit outlook to ¥1.11 trillion from ¥1.16 trillion as its PlayStation division stammered and game sales dropped.
Sony’s PlayStation 5 hardware production was hampered by COVID-19 lockdowns in China.
Price Action: SONY shares traded lower by 0.49% at $84.81 premarket on the last check Tuesday.