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What to Know About Sony’s $7.85 Million PlayStation Settlement
Sony, owner of the PlayStation brand, has been accused of antitrust practices. The lawsuit was originally settled in 2024 but was rejected twice during the approval process. Last week, a judge approved a preliminary reopening of the settlement.
The suit, brought before the San Francisco division of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses the company of allegedly limiting third-party retailers from selling PlayStation titles via âgame-specific vouchers.â That means preventing customers from buying games elsewhere and forcing them to make digital purchases solely on Sonyâs PlayStation Network, where it controls prices without worrying about competitors.
Sony Will Soon Settle A PlayStation Store Class Action Lawsuit For $7.8 Million
If you bought a digital game on the PlayStation Store between April 2019 and December 2023, you may soon receive some store credit in your account. A federal judge in San Francisco granted preliminary approval of a proposed $7.85 million settlement for a class action lawsuit that accused Sony of eliminating competition and monopolizing the market for its digital games through the PlayStation Store.
The lawsuit was first filed in May 2021 and claims that Sony's alleged anticompetitive conduct caused gamers to "pay more than they otherwise would have paid for certain digital games." The legal action comes after Sony eliminated "game-specific vouchers" sold by third-party companies in April 2019, which the lawsuit argued could have resulted in lower prices on the PlayStation Store if customers had alternative options through other retailers like Best Buy, GameStop and others.
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PS5 gamers entitled to credits in new Sony lawsuit settlement
A federal judge has preliminarily approved a $7.85 million settlement resolving claims that Sony Interactive Entertainment illegally squeezed out competition in the digital PlayStation games market — and millions of affected players should soon be able to collect without doing anything.
The lawsuit, filed in 2021, alleged that Sony cut off third-party retailers from selling game-specific download vouchers starting April 1, 2019, effectively funneling consumers to the PlayStation Store and driving up prices in violation of federal antitrust law. Sony has denied any wrongdoing.
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín granted preliminary approval to the deal on April 8, after previously rejecting two earlier versions of the settlement — first over concerns about service awards for plaintiffs who were no longer part of the class, and again over questions about whether PlayStation Store credits amounted to coupons under the law.
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