The game preservation initiative Stop Killing Games, along with advocate DoesItPlay, has officially announced their support for a collective lawsuit against Sony in the Netherlands. This legal action, spearheaded by Stichting Massaschade & Consument (SM&C), accuses Sony of leveraging its control over the PlayStation Store to impose an unfair "Sony Tax" on consumers by limiting game sales to its own digital storefront.
Stop Killing Games and DoesItPlay revealed their collaboration with SM&C's "Fair PlayStation" lawsuit in a recent post. "We’re putting our full weight behind SM&C’s case, with the Dutch court," stated Stop Killing Games, emphasizing that their backing helps demonstrate the lawsuit's global support beyond just Dutch gamers.
SM&C, a Dutch non-profit foundation for mass damage and consumer rights, initiated its lawsuit against Sony in early 2025. The suit contends that Sony's alleged monopoly on digital game sales through the PlayStation Store constitutes an abuse of power, similar to claims made in the "PlayStation You Owe Us" lawsuit in the United Kingdom. The Dutch foundation argues that by restricting sales to its closed digital ecosystem, Sony has unfairly inflated prices.
This argument gains further traction with Sony's announced cessation of physical PlayStation media production in January 2028. SM&C posits that this move will further consolidate Sony's control over game sales and pricing within its digital environment, leading to the eventual disappearance of the physical game market and the associated secondhand sales.