[官司] 索尼的差別定價引起律師關注

https://tinyurl.com/24srzxft

https://twitter.com/HoegLaw/status/1493341485550428160

《地平線：西域禁地》的PS5版定價70美元，PS4版（可免費升級至PS5版）定價為60美元。因此，相同的產品擁有兩個不同的定價，而索尼將更昂貴的遊戲版本放在了預購頁面的頂部，希望以更高的價格將產品出售給不知情的消費者，並且將定價60美元的相同產品放在了下面。此外，在《地平線：西域禁地》FAQ中，仍然存在PS4版無法免費升級到PS5版的過時信息。

Lawyer lambasts Sony for ‘deceptive’ marketing of Horizon’s free PS5
upgrade

15TH FEB 2022 / 6:51 PM
Posted by
Tom Ivan

Lawyer lambasts Sony for ‘deceptive’ marketing of Horizon’s free PS5
upgrade

A lawyer has criticised Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) for what he
believes to be deceptive and potentially unlawful marketing practices relatedto Horizon Forbidden West.

The practices being called into question by Hoeg Law attorney Richard Hoeg
focus on Sony’s commitment to offer players who purchase the PS4 version of
the game a free upgrade to the PS5 one.

Sony’s messaging around this offer has been heavily criticised for a long
time, but recent decisions by the company have resulted in the game’s
marketing being scrutinised more heavily in the weeks leading up to this
Friday’s release.

To recap, Sony announced Horizon Forbidden West for PS5 in June 2020 before
confirming a PS4 version three months later.

Speaking to The Washington Post at the time of the PS4 version’s reveal, SIE
CEO Jim Ryan said “no one should be disappointed” about cross-gen game
announcements.

“The PS5 versions of those games are built from the ground up to take
advantage of the PS5 feature set, and we have an upgrade path for PS4 users
to get the PS5 versions for free,” he said. “It’s about people having
choice. I’m really quite pleased about the situation.”

However, a year later, when detailing Horizon Forbidden West’s various
editions, Sony said that “dual entitlement does not apply to the standard
and Special Editions” of the game, meaning players would only get a free
upgrade if they purchased more expensive versions.

Given Ryan’s earlier statements, the news was poorly received by players,
and a couple of days later Sony U-turned on plans not to offer free PS5
upgrades to users who purchase the PS4 standard edition of Horizon Forbidden
West.

But it would be the last PS4 game to offer a free PS5 upgrade path, Ryan
added, with all future cross-gen first-party titles, including God of War
Ragnarok and Gran Turismo 7, set to carry a $10 upgrade fee.

However, the way in which Sony has recently marketed Horizon Forbidden West
has led Hoeg to accuse the company of demonstrating “duplicity and greed.”

If you search for Horizon Forbidden West online via the US PlayStation Store,the main pre-order marketing for the game at the top of the page promotes a
$69.99/￡69.99 product compatible with both PS5 and PS4.

Scroll down the page and you’ll find what is essentially the same product
being offered for $59.99/￡59.99.

Lawyer lambasts Sony for ‘deceptive’ marketing of Horizon’s free PS5
upgrade

Sony is predominantly marketing the $70/￡70 version of Horizon Forbidden West“For folks not following what’s happening here, Sony is offering a PS4
version with a ‘free’ PS5 upgrade for $60 and a PS5 version with a PS4 copy
included for $70,” Hoeg tweeted on Monday.

“Same package. Two price points. With one displayed more prominently than
the other.”

“It gets worse,” he wrote in a follow-up. “The PS4 version does not appear
to be offered through the store on a PS5 at all, regardless of whether or notyou ask only for PS4 games.”

VGC reported earlier this month that PS5 owners could only purchase the
cheaper version of Horizon Forbidden West via PC or a mobile app.

An official Sony FAQ even still carries the outdated messaging that players
who buy the standard and special editions of the game for PS4 aren’t
entitled to a free upgrade.

“Hell, they didn’t even update their FAQ (which is now a complete lie),”
Hoeg said. “Tell me how casual purchasers are supposed to navigate this? It’
s like they want to be sued.”

In the latest episode of his video show Virtual Legality, and in comments
provided to VGC, Hoeg discussed whether Sony’s marketing practices could
land the company in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission, which protectsconsumers by targeting unfair, deceptive or fraudulent practices in the
marketplace.

“Things like ‘deceptive’ or ‘unfair’ practices are always a bit in the
eye of the beholder, so while I can say that I personally feel that this kindof thing crosses the line and appears deceptive on its face, I cannot
guarantee that a regulator like the FTC or a judge would feel the same way,”
Hoeg told VGC.

“That said, as I mentioned in my video, you can definitely look at what has
been presented and believe that material information (the ability to get a
copy of Horizon for $60) is being deliberately withheld and/or obfuscated by
Sony and the PS5 store presentation, and that if consumers knew they could
play Horizon on PS5 for $60 many would make that election instead of paying
$70.”

Unfortunately for players who may already have purchased the $70 version of
Horizon Forbidden West under the assumption that they were getting the best
deal, Hoeg said “the FTC isn’t likely to move on this in any cognisable
fashion” because it has limited resources and bigger fish to fry.

It may be that consumers attempt to take matters into their own hands via a
class action lawsuit, although whether such a case would be big enough to
tempt law firms to take it on is also up for debate.

“I do think that this kind of thing could present a possibility of a class
action claim,” Hoeg told VGC. “Many individual states (not to mention
jurisdictions outside the US) have deceptive trade practices statutes that
allow for civil actions, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see a request for
plaintiffs coming from a class action firm on something like this, though it
will depend on those firms’ analysis of what they think they can get out of
a possible pay day.

“Even taking Horizon Zero Dawn’s 20 million sold number and applying $10 to
it (which isn’t realistic given the number of sales that will be made on
PS4) has the lawyers fighting over ‘only’ $200 million for the class, so
they will be looking to see if the bottom line number is enough to fight over.”
We also asked Hoeg how he would advise Sony to correct the current situation.For example, should it only be advertising the $60 version of the game, or
offering automatic $10 refunds to players who have purchased the $70 version?

“Practically, not legally, I would definitely advise Sony to change course
on this,” he responded. “I suspect at least some of the issues here are
arising because of their issues with transitioning licenses across
generations, but the simplest thing would be to change the price of the PS5
version down to $60 to match the PS4 version.

“The second simplest thing would be to make sure that the PS4 version is
available to purchase through a user’s PS5 and to make it abundantly clear
that you get a PS5 version with the PS4 one.

“What they have instead elected to do seems to be the worst of both worlds,
which would appear to be the case because they never planned to give a free
upgrade to the PS4 version despite what they told the Washington Post before
launching the PS5.”

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七魄興輪無上伊甸瑜珈雖然是以看來較為平和的方式以蟬蛻和生乳取代血肉等腥穢之物
作為密義源起供養；然而聚歛於上的是冥界的深冤與大樂奔瀉的淨慈，行者於閉關修持
之時若生起退失動搖之心，則神識旋即離散且肉身消殞；即便如此還是願意受灌頂嗎？
https://imgur.com/cEVD0kE ---妖道七祖《攝一切魔根本瑜珈論/誓命問品第一》---
文章代碼(AID): #1K0Lp7VP (CFantasy) [ptt.cc] Re: [新聞] 湖南偏鄉驚曝百餘......https://imgur.com/eRQKYMF 文章網址: https://tinyurl.com/56ervywe

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這件事說起來更好笑，原本內容其實還有一點不同。 索尼在最開始並沒有為PS4標準版《地平線：西域禁地》提供免費次世代升級，在受到玩 家反對後，索尼改變了態度，宣布PS4標準版《地平線：西域禁地》也可以免費升級至次 世代版。這一決定導致PS4版和PS5版的《地平線：西域禁地》內容幾乎相同，售價卻相差 了10美元，而對於PS5的用戶，他們只能通過PC瀏覽器或其他智慧裝置程式購買更便宜的 《地平線：西域禁地》。 就自己搞得不能怪人。