Stop Killing Games Joins PlayStation Digital Monopoly Lawsuit
Multiple gaming advocacy groups, including Stop Killing Games and DoesItPlay?, have announced they are joining a lawsuit against Sony in the Netherlands, targeting the company’s digital distribution monopoly on PlayStation platforms.
Stop Killing Games is an advocacy movement focused on challenging the legality of video game publishers removing games that consumers have already purchased. The organization argues that destroying access to previously sold games violates consumer rights. DoesItPlay? complements this effort through direct activism, organizing a PlayStation blackout scheduled for late August to protest Sony’s discontinuation of physical disc production.
Both groups are supporting Stichting Massaschade & Consument (SM&C) in its legal action against Sony. The lawsuit centers on alleged anti-competitive practices surrounding Sony’s control over PlayStation’s digital storefront and the platform holder’s monopolistic power over game distribution. This legal challenge reflects broader concerns about digital game preservation, consumer ownership rights, and the ability of platform holders to unilaterally remove access to purchased games.
The litigation addresses a growing tension in the gaming industry: as publishers shift toward digital-only distribution models, consumers lose physical media backups and risk losing access to games if the platform delists them. By uniting these advocacy movements, the groups aim to establish legal precedent regarding consumer rights in digital gaming and challenge corporate practices around game delisting.