Hey, so there’s this whole uproar with Dutch PlayStation folks about something they’re calling the ‘Sony tax.’ They’re mad, like, really mad, and they’ve grouped up to file a class action lawsuit against Sony. The gist of it is, Sony’s apparently jacking up prices for digital games—said to be 47% higher than the physical versions. Yep, you read that right. Their logic is Sony has this stronghold on digital sales and is blocking other app stores. Interesting, huh?
So get this, according to some Dutch watchdog group or whatever—they claim Sony’s been milking their leading spot in the console biz for a solid decade now. Oh, and add this, the ban on other app stores? It’s just made everything worse. Allegedly, at least 1.7 million Dutch PlayStation users are coughing up way too much dough. To the tune of over €435 million since 2013. That’s wild. Dutch gamers are pretty much, like, bleeding cash here.
I mean, let’s be real, doesn’t matter where you’re at, new PS5 games are super pricey. Like $69.99 in the States, if you can believe it. Sony’s in the driver’s seat with pricing on their digital store. Now, physical copies? Different story. Sellers are slicing prices to compete for customers. The competition was healthy, y’know? But nope, digital-only consoles are shaking that up.
Switching gears a bit—Lucia Melcherts, from some group fighting this so-called ‘Sony tax,’ says gamers are paying through the nose and Sony’s snatching away the good stuff without giving anything back. Like trying to boil a frog slowly, something like that. Oh, and just last April, Sony decided to bump up prices on tons of stuff. It’s like they think they own the show.
Melcherts has this take that with digital bits being cheaper to distribute, we should see lower prices. But when you’ve got a setup that keeps out other digital stores? Nah, it doesn’t cut it. These guys reckon Sony’s doubling their profits on digital stuff and keeping tight grips on the 80% of the Dutch console market they’ve got.
Fast forward to 2023, the campaign’s banking on the courts to bring the hammer down on Sony and open things up for other digital vendors. Wonder how that’ll play out?
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