PlayStation gamers in the UK could be eligible for up to £162 each in compensation if Sony is to lose an antitrust lawsuit beginning later this month.

As reported by the Financial Times, a £2bn class action case is currently being filed against the gaming giant. Alex Neill, who’s representing the 12.2 million PlayStation gamers in the UK, accuses the company of applying ‘excessive and unfair’ charges on games sold via the PlayStation Store digital marketplace.

This is allegedly due to PlayStation gamers only being able to purchase digital games from a digital storefront, which Sony largely controls the pricing of. Claimant Neill claims that this allows Sony to charge a premium, effectively forcing customers to pay more than they need for their digital goods.

Defending the case against it, Sony claims that it’s justified in only offering its own storefront as allowing third-party marketplaces would introduce ‘security and privacy

It’s worth noting that both Xbox and Nintendo Switch also only allow gamers to purchase and download games from their own first-party stores. However, Epic Games has made rumblings of trying to get its own third-party store available on the next Xbox console, which is rumoured to be more like a PC than a home console.

If the claimant’s case is successful, PlayStation gamers who’ve purchased an item from the PlayStation Store since February 2016 will be able to claim up to £162 in compensation. That’s just over £2bn if all 12.2 million gamers claim what they’re allegedly owed.

The court case is set to be heard at the Competition Appeal Tribunal on March 10 with it expected to run for around 10 weeks.

This isn’t the first lawsuit of this nature to appear in UK courts – PC gaming giant Valve, which owns Steam, is also under fire for a similar alleged breach of UK consumer law. Vicky Shotbolt is representing Steam users in that case, alleging that the company charges ‘unfair and excessive’ commission rates for games distributed on the platform.

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