Sony PlayStation Store (Image: Sony)
Sony is offering cash settlement to gaming fans.
“If, during the period April 1, 2019, to December 31, 2023, you purchased a Digital Game through the PlayStation Store that was previously available through a Game-Specific Voucher, you may be eligible to receive a payment from a class action lawsuit settlement.”
That statement is written at the top of the web page for the PSN Digital Games Settlement. Filed on December 13 of 2024, the class-action lawsuit Caccuri, et al. v. Sony Interactive Entertainment, LLC alleges that “Sony’s acquisition and maintenance of a monopoly in the market for digital PlayStation games causes consumers to pay more for their digital PlayStation games than they would have in a competitive market.”
This includes both PlayStation exclusives (like The Last of Us) and third-party games (like Resident Evil 4).
In recent years, SIE has stopped selling game-specific vouchers that would allow PlayStation users to purchase digital games from different online shops. The lawsuit is built on the fundamental claim that Sony “unlawfully eliminated competition and monopolized the market for [its] digital games.”
Although Sony has denied that it did anything unlawful or harmed anyone, the court has preliminarily approved a $7.85 million settlement payment.
The payout is still subject to the court’s final approval hearing, which is set for October 15. This hearing should determine the settlement amount and allocate up to 25% of the funds to attorney fees, taxes, and other administrative costs. Moreover, a plan will be developed to distribute the remaining funds to eligible class members.
To be a class member in this lawsuit, you must be a living, individual human being in the US or its territories, and you must have purchased one of the eligible digital games through the PlayStation Store between the period of April 1, 2019 and December 31, 2023.
If you check off both of these boxes, then you are automatically a class member of the Caccuri lawsuit. This means that you will be eligible to collect whatever portion of the settlement money is decided on. However, the money will be added directly to your PlayStation Network wallet after the final approval hearing. Any updates will be posted on the settlement website.
Even if you have deactivated your PlayStation Network account, you can still apply for the settlement payment by communicating your eligibility to info@PSNDigitalGamesSettlement.com. If successful, the money will be paid in cash rather than to your PSN account.
You also have the option of excluding yourself from the settlement and suing Sony separately on the same basis. This has to be done via a written request to the court by July 2. Otherwise, you will stay in the settlement class.
May the odds be ever in your favor.
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