Sony is facing a lawsuit in London valued at nearly £2 billion (approximately $2.7 billion). The case accuses the PlayStation manufacturer of leveraging its dominant market position to inflate the prices of digital games, marking the latest major consumer collective action to reach trial in the UK.

The Japanese conglomerate is accused of abusing its market power by requiring that digital games and add-on content for its consoles be bought and sold exclusively through the PlayStation Store, resulting in higher prices compared to physical copies.

Sony stated that it has "invested years and billions of dollars" to create an integrated gaming platform that delivers value to consumers in a competitive market, noting that its rivals Nintendo and Microsoft's Xbox employ similar models.

Sony's legal representatives also argued that the company's profit margins on game and add-on content sales are not excessive, asserting that the lawsuit overlooks Sony's cost investments and brand value.

The case is being heard by the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) and is brought on behalf of approximately 12 million consumers. It is the third lawsuit against a major technology company to proceed to trial since early 2025.

Sony is accused of stifling competition.

Alex Neill, the lead claimant in the case, said in a statement, "Gamers have paid too much, and they deserve to get some of that money back." The claim was initially valued at up to £5 billion before being reduced to £1.97 billion.

The claimants' lawyer, Robert Palmer, told the tribunal, "Sony can and does set retail prices... It faces no retail-level competition in the digital content space. This allows it to extract monopoly profits from digital distribution."

However, Sony, which sold 8 million PlayStation 5 consoles in the last quarter of the previous year, argued that the lawsuit essentially advocates for allowing third parties to operate stores on the PlayStation platform, enabling them to "free-ride" on Sony's investments.

Other cases related to digital storefronts remain ongoing. Last year, the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal ruled against Apple in a case concerning its App Store, and Apple is seeking to appeal that decision.

A trial in a related case against Google is scheduled to begin in October of this year. Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, which was set to be involved in that case, withdrew its claim on Monday following Google's announcement of a comprehensive overhaul of its Play Store policies.