Sony PlayStation is being sued for £5bn by nine million claimants amid accusations it "ripped people off" with overpriced games and in-game purchases.

[eastmen]

Sony PlayStation being sued for £5bn amid claims it 'ripped off' nine million consumers

Consumers have been overcharged for their digital gaming purchases by as much as £5bn over the last six years, the legal action states, with estimated damages per individual estimated as between £67 and £562.

news.sky.com

The legal claim is a collective action against the gaming company, brought by consumer rights champion Alex Neill. It accuses the company of breach of competition law by abusing its market power to impose unfair terms and conditions on game developers and publishers, forcing up prices for consumers.


It allegedly "ripped people off" by charging a 30% commission on every digital game and in-game purchase made through the PlayStation Store.

Consumers have been overcharged for their digital gaming purchases by as much as £5bn over the last six years, the legal action states.

Will be interesting to see what results of this.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

It allegedly "ripped people off" by charging a 30% commission on every digital game and in-game purchase made through the PlayStation Store.

I thought 30% was the defacto retailer charge, both online and for brick & mortar outlets. We know from the Epic Games / Apple case that Apple, Google and Microsoft all have this this margin.

It'll be interesting to see if they get any traction but I doubt it. These are not surreptitious charges, people were charged the ticket price shown and paid it willingly. But if it means lower costs, sure, but it won't Any lower margin forced on retailers will result in a commensurate increase to publishers.

 

[eastmen]

I thought 30% was the defacto retailer charge, both online and for brick & mortar outlets. We know from the Epic Games / Apple case that Apple, Google and Microsoft all have this this margin.

It'll be interesting to see if they get any traction but I doubt it. These are not surreptitious charges, people were charged the ticket price shown and paid it willingly. But if it means lower costs, sure, but it won't Any lower margin forced on retailers will result in a commensurate increase to publishers.

When I worked for game stop it be $5-7.50 take on a $50 game. The bigger the publisher and the more anticipated the game was the closer to 7.50.

I wonder how much European companies would like to extract billions from a Japanese company. They seem to love taking the American tech companies to court to extract pay outs.

Report: Steam's 30% Cut Is Actually the Industry Standard - IGN

A breakdown of how much every major retailer takes from the sale of a game.

www.ign.com

 

[Deleted member 11852]

When I worked for game stop it be $5-7.50 take on a $50 game. The bigger the publisher and the more anticipated the game was the closer to 7.50.

Ah, of course.. B&M long had to surrender their margins. But we know from last year's disclosures that the margins exists elsewhere except for the Epic Games Store. But as you links shows and the disclosures from last year, almost everybody is on 30%.

If Sony loses this everybody will be a target. I personally feel 30% is an absurd cut compared to the risk and cost that developers/publishers bear in terms of risk and bringing a game to market. I mean why should Store X get $20 when you buy Halo, The Last of Us, Grant Theft Auto or Spider-Man for $60?

It's borderline obscene. Especially on consoles where the manufacturer is also getting a licensing fee.

 

[eastmen]

Ah, of course.. B&M long had to surrender their margins. But we know from last year's disclosures that the margins exists elsewhere except for the Epic Games Store. But as you links shows and the disclosures from last year, almost everybody is on 30%.

If Sony loses this everybody will be a target. I personally feel 30% is an absurd cut compared to the risk and cost that developers/publishers bear in terms of risk and bringing a game to market. I mean why should Store X get $20 when you buy Halo, The Last of Us, Grant Theft Auto or Spider-Man for $60?

It's borderline obscene. Especially on consoles where the manufacturer is also getting a licensing fee.

Yea I worked Gamestop 99 to 2005 so its been awhile.

For me I think its easy for Epic to take a small cut. They launch software on a platform they don't have to pay anything for. Its the same with microsofts pc stores and valves pc store. They should both be lower. But console companies sell at a loss for hardware. I don't think the console industry could exist if the true costs of the systems were exposed to the end user. Would people be rushing out for a playstaion 5 that not only had to profit but also recoup all development costs on the hardware design ? I think we'd be talking about systems that are $600-$800 easily.