Judge rules PlayStation isn’t anti-competitive, throws out lawsuit

A judge throws out a potential class-action lawsuit against Sony and its online games store.

A Californian District Judge dismissed a potential class-action lawsuit against Sony’s online games marketplace, the PlayStation Store. In his dismissal, Judge Richard Seeborg stated that plaintiffs “have failed to allege adequately anticompetitive conduct under the Sherman Act, and the other claims are derivative of the Sherman Act claims.”

The Sherman Act, short for the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, is an American act that forbids monopolisation — or, to quote the act: “every contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade.” Sony had previously allowed retailers to sell games digitally alongside the PlayStation Store. However, in 2019, Sony altered its policy to centralise selling games only on the PlayStation Store.

According to the complaint, which was filed by a collection of players who purchased games on the PlayStation Store, Sony did this knowingly in order to set prices unilaterally for every game. The crux of the lawsuit relied on proving that the policy change was intended to cut off competition — which Judge Seeborg stated they failed to prove, and granted the motion to dismiss.

However, if the plaintiffs wish to pursue the lawsuit further, permission to amend the lawsuit was granted. “Although it is unclear at this time if the deficiencies may be cured, Plaintiff is granted leave to amend.” Judge Seeborg said. The plaintiffs can add an amendment to their lawsuit and re-file it if they wish.

Antitrust lawsuits are on the rise in recent years for other companies as well. Valve, owner and operator of Steam, which is the most popular digital games marketplace in the world, is currently facing an antitrust lawsuit as well, with claims that publisher fees are higher than they would be if Valve had more competition.

Apple and Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, which has generated over $13 billion AUD in revenue, also battled in court over anti-competition tactics. In that, the tech giant Apple delisted Fortnite from their App Store over in-game transactions, causing Epic Games to launch a lawsuit claiming that Apple owns a monopoly on digital goods and services.

Original reporting by Bloomberg Law.

Written by Junior Miyai on behalf of GLHF.