Stop Killing Games Backs Dutch €400M Suit Over Sony’s PlayStation Store ‘Tax’ – GamesReviews.com
Stop Killing Games Backs Dutch €400M Suit Over Sony’s PlayStation Store ‘Tax’
Author:News DeskCategory:News, Date: 14th August, 2026
Game preservation campaign Stop Killing Games has thrown its weight behind a Dutch collective-action lawsuit accusing Sony of running an illegal “monopoly” over digital PlayStation game sales. Announced alongside preservation resource DoesItPlay on X, the backing adds international pressure to a case brought by Dutch consumer foundation Stichting Massaschade & Consument (SM&C), which is seeking as much as €435 million — roughly $457 million — on behalf of an estimated 1.7 million Dutch PlayStation owners.
The timing is no accident. Sony has confirmed it will stop producing physical discs for new PlayStation games from January 2028, and campaigners argue that decision only sharpens the pricing-power problem their lawsuit already targets.
The €435 Million ‘Sony Tax’ Claim
Stop Killing Games and game preservation advocate DoesItPlay have announced that they’re officially supporting Stichting Massaschade & Consument’s “Fair PlayStation” collective lawsuit against Sony in the Netherlands, which accuses the multinational conglomerate of inflicting a “Sony Tax” on PlayStation owners by limiting sales of PlayStation games solely to its own digital storefront. The foundation’s core allegation, as laid out in its campaign material, is direct: “Sony has a monopoly on digital game sales on PlayStation.” Every digital purchase routes through Sony’s own store. Sony sets the prices. Sony keeps the cut. No alternative storefront exists.
The dollar figure attached to that claim is substantial. The foundation estimates Dutch consumers have overpaid by roughly €435 million, about $457 million, since November 29, 2013, the date the PS4 launched in Europe, a figure it has branded the “Sony Tax.” Central to the math is Sony’s cut of every sale: that estimate assumes Sony should have collected a 12% commission rather than the 30% rate alleged in the lawsuit. On top of the commission argument, the filing also claims digital PlayStation games cost an average of 47% more than equivalent physical copies because Sony prevents competing digital stores from operating on its consoles.
Why the 2028 Disc Cutoff Matters to the Case
SM&C chair Lucia Melcherts has framed Sony’s disc phase-out as proof of the very problem the lawsuit describes. In a statement to Wccftech, cited by multiple outlets including Kotaku and PC Gamer, Melcherts said “the end of physical discs removes the last place where a PlayStation game could still be bought and sold at a competitive price.” She continued: “No discs means no second-hand market and no alternative to the PlayStation Store, so from 2028, Sony alone decides what a game costs and even how long you are allowed to use it. That is exactly the harm our Fair PlayStation claim is about: a price can never be fair when the buyer is left with no ownership and no alternative.”
Sony has not backed away from the disc decision despite the backlash. Physical PS5 hardware shipping now already carries a printed disclosure about the change, and Sony has shown no sign of reconsidering despite the backlash the decision drew. The company maintains that existing disc-based games will keep working, and that new titles will still reach retailers — just via digital codes rather than physical media, which strips away the resale value that once acted as an informal price check on the PlayStation Store.
Stop Killing Games Widens Its Fight Beyond Preservation
Stop Killing Games built its name campaigning against publishers shutting down purchased games, and its move into a pricing-and-competition lawsuit marks a deliberate broadening of its mission. The campaign says its role is to demonstrate grassroots support for SM&C’s standing in court, with the video description backing the case reading: “We’re backing SM&C’s (Stichting Massaschade & Consument) lawsuit against Sony over its total control of PlayStation Store pricing. We’re putting our full weight behind SM&C’s case, with the Dutch court. SM&C has to show the court it actually represents gamers, not just claims to. Our support backs that up globally.”
DoesItPlay’s own founder struck a similar note when speaking to PC Gamer this week, arguing that “Less options for people is always a bad thing,” Clemens Istel says. The group had already run a week-long boycott targeting Sony’s disc decision before formally joining the lawsuit effort, according to GodisaGeek’s reporting on the campaign timeline.
Where the Fair PlayStation Case Stands in Court
The legal process is still at an early, procedural stage. A June 29 hearing focused on jurisdiction, applicable law and whether the foundation is eligible to represent the proposed group. No findings on Sony’s alleged conduct have been made. Sony has not been found liable in the Dutch case, and the court has yet to rule on the substance of the monopoly claims. Both sides have until October 21 to respond to several related Dutch Supreme Court decisions before the court issues an interim ruling.
The Netherlands case sits alongside a broader wave of litigation targeting closed console storefronts. The Dutch action is separate from the PlayStation Store lawsuit previously filed in the UK, which Dexerto reported was once valued at approximately $7.9 billion. Sony isn’t the only platform holder under this kind of scrutiny either — Valve is contesting a separate class-action claim in the United Kingdom over the 30% cut it takes from Steam sales, and Steam, the Epic Games Store and Nintendo’s eShop all run on similarly closed digital storefronts.
For PlayStation owners in New Zealand and Australia, none of this changes anything immediately — the Fair PlayStation claim is confined to Dutch consumers and Dutch law, and no equivalent local class action has been filed. But the underlying structure Melcherts and Stop Killing Games are challenging — a single digital storefront setting prices with no competing outlet on the same hardware — is identical to what shoppers browsing the PlayStation Store in Auckland or Sydney encounter every time they buy a digital-only PS5 game. How a Dutch court rules on Sony’s market position could influence how those other cases proceed, making this a case worth watching well beyond the Netherlands.
Read also:Crimson Desert Switch 2 Port Hits ‘Playable Baseline’, Pearl Abyss Eyes Early 2027
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News Desk
The GamesReviews News Desk covers the latest gaming news across PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, PC and esports. Reporting is AI-assisted and reviewed by our editorial team.
