PlayStation Users Want Sony’s Second Dismissal Bid To Fail

A 32-page opposition argues that the consumer plaintiffs’ latest pleading overcomes Sony’s motion to dismiss their antitrust complaint, which alleges that Sony engaged in monpolisitic conduct by deciding to sell digital copies of its video games through the PlayStation Store only. The plaintiffs contend that Sony’s renewed bid to dismiss the case both attempts to make them plead elements outside the law and disputes facts or inferences that should be resolved at a later stage.

As previously reported, the 2021 consolidated action alleges that Sony monopolized the $17 billion market for Sony downloadable, digitally delivered video games and supplemental content. The theory goes that Sony eliminated competition for digital games by ending its relationship with retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop in violation of federal and state antitrust law.

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For years before the April 2019 change, Sony competed with retailers by permitting them to sell digital game copies. The video game developer ended those profitable relationships to become a monopoly seller, the plaintiffs allege, all the while erecting a “walled garden” that forces consumers to buy digital games exclusively from the PlayStation Store at higher prices.