Sony and PlayStation recently faced a significant backlash, the effects of which are still being felt. The reason is the trending end of physical games for PlayStation consoles. By 2026, five lawsuits were already filed against the company for potential monopoly issues, and Sony’s recent decisions are not helping the company at all.
What is the concern of the plaintiffs? The core of the five active lawsuits against PlayStation or Sony, which Kotaku presents in an article, is the concern over a monopoly in PlayStation games. Starting in 2028, there are expected to be no more physical releases for Sony games at all.
In addition to the concern that games without a physical release will never truly belong to the people who purchased them, an important competitive factor is eliminated: Stores, such as MediaMarkt, Saturn, or Amazon, which sell physical releases often offer games at lower prices after some time. Furthermore, this could signal the end of the used game market.
Without disc releases, PlayStation games will only be available for purchase in the official store integrated into the console. The prices there are exclusively controlled by PlayStation, which is already said to take a 30% cut of the sale price, according to the lawsuits.
This could lead to games rarely being available at lower prices, prices skyrocketing uncontrollably, and Sony raising its share of the sale price. By the start of 2026, there were already 5 lawsuits against PlayStation, four of which could now gain fresh momentum.
Five Lawsuits Over High Prices and Monopoly Formation
What kind of lawsuits are they exactly? At the beginning of 2026, a total of five lawsuits against PlayStation were in progress, one of which is now concluded. We present all five here in bullet points:
Caccuri v. Sony Interactive Entertainment – USA (concluded)
A class action lawsuit from the United States of America. This case concerned Sony’s decision in 2019 to stop selling digital download codes in physical boxes. Lawyers were able to prove that digital codes in the PlayStation Store were, on average, 74% more expensive than physical discs in retail.
The lawsuit was concluded in April 2026 with a settlement of $7.85 million. This is equivalent to about 6.81 million euros.
PlayStation You Owe Us – United Kingdom
The law firm Milberg from London is suing together with a consumer protection group. The lawsuit claims that Sony is abusing its closed ecosystem to impose an excessive charge of 30% on buyers. The negotiations are complete and a verdict is expected by 2026.
Fair PlayStation – Netherlands
The lawsuit was filed only at the beginning of 2025 and is currently in an early phase. This process is similar to the lawsuit from the UK and revolves around the 30% surcharge that Sony is alleged to take. The plaintiffs say that without discs, the used market will die and consumers will have no price alternatives.
lus Omnibus v. Sony Interactive Entertainment – Portugal
The lawsuit was initiated in 2023 by the consumer protection organization lus Omnibus and filed with the competition court. Sony is said to be abusing its dominant position in the closed PlayStation ecosystem and demanding excessive prices.
Antitrust Complaint by the Competition Commission – Mexico
Politicians IraÃs Reyes and Luis Donaldo Colosio have filed their lawsuit with the national competition authority in Mexico. The end of physical discs at PlayStation is the core argument for why the used market would be completely wiped out and Sony would be able to dictate all prices in the future.
Whether and how the lawsuits will progress and the chances of success are currently not foreseeable. However, there is an international concern about rapidly rising prices due to a Sony monopoly on PlayStation games. Sony itself confidently approaches the end of discs and the CFO recently named three reasons why one should choose a PlayStation over a gaming PC: According to Sony, there are three things that make the PlayStation better than the PC
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