It’s been officially confirmed that the class lawsuit against Sony in the UK is set to go to trial on 2 March 2026. It’s estimated that the trial will last for eight weeks in total. For those unaware of what this trial is about, Sony is being sued for the unlawful behavior of charging out-of-proportion prices on their digital content, including add-ons. This lawsuit has been created by Alex Neill, a person with nearly 20 years’ worth of experience in consumer campaigns and trying to achieve change for UK consumers. Alex is a regular speaker at industry events regarding consumer issues and consumer rights across all sectors in the UK. She is the sole director of Alex Neill Class Representative, which is a not-for-profit special purpose vehicle that is being used for the specific purpose of pursuing claims against Sony.
While the trial may seem far away, Alex explains that the trial dates have been set considering the amount of time it takes each of the parties to share evidence and expert reports and prepare their cases. The court’s availability also plays a role.
This case is based on the claim of those who owned a Sony PlayStation between 19 August 2016 and 19 August 2022 and those who did own one, purchased digital PlayStation games, or made in-game purchases via the PlayStation store. This class lawsuit is going ahead as the claimant believes that PlayStation is occupying a dominant position in relation to the digital distribution of PlayStation games and in-game content and, as such, has been charging UK customers too much for the content on their consoles. While Sony is entitled to make a profit with their products, the claimant is alleging that they are in breach of UK/EU competition law, as they have a “near monopoly” on the sale of digital games.
Additionally, Sony has enforced strict terms and conditions on game developers and publishers, which allows Sony to set the price of digital games and charge a 30% commission on every purchase of digital games and in-game content. This leads to excessive and unfair prices for consumers. By having such high prices, the Class is alleging that customers have been paying too much, which has led to detrimental effects for consumers, including stifling competition, where the competition has to charge higher prices even to get an opportunity to compete.
With this class lawsuit, anyone can sign up as long as they are eligible. If the Class is successful in its lawsuit, it means that those who signed up may receive some compensation from Sony.
