Sony, the owner of a PlayStation product, has been accused of unfair practices. The case was settled in 2024 but was rejected twice at the time of approval. Last week, a judge approved the reopening of the settlement.
The lawsuit, brought before the San Francisco division of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses the company of allegedly restricting third-party retailers from selling PlayStation titles with “game-specific vouchers.” That means preventing customers from buying games elsewhere and forcing them to buy digital only on Sony’s PlayStation Network, where it controls prices without worrying about competitors.
The settlement means the company was not accused of wrongdoing, but will have to pay nearly $8 million to affected players. Unfortunately, that may take a long time.
Here’s what you need to know about compensation and whether you’ll be able to get any money from it. (Full details are on the PlayStation Digital Games Settlement website.)
Am I Eligible for Payment?
If you purchased a digital game on PlayStation Network between April 1, 2019, and December 31, 2023, then yes, you may be eligible for compensation.
What Games Are Included?
You can find here the full list of games eligible for compensation.
If you’ve played anything during that time and purchased it from the PSN store, you may be able to get it installed. Games include The Last of Us, Resident Evil 4and a number of sports games, such as several generations of Madden, NBA 2K, and FIFA
How Do I Get Paid?
Fortunately, you won’t have to do much. Once compensation is complete, funds will be deposited into payment accounts linked to all eligible PSN profiles.
If you would like to opt out of payment, or object completely, you can do so by submitting a written request. That’s not necessary unless you have an ethical problem with the payment, or plan to sue Sony about the matter later. Accepting payment now automatically means you give up the right to sue Sony for this in the future.
What If I No Longer Have My PSN Account?
If your PSN account is disabled or otherwise MIA, but you know you’ve purchased games that meet the criteria for this compensation, you still have options to get some refunds. You can call (877) 777-9145 or email [email protected]. You can also send your relevant purchase information and current address to:
PSN Digital Game Settlement
PO Box 17304
Milwaukee, WI 53217
The deadline to submit that check request is August 27, 2026.
How Much Money Will I Get?
Probably not much, unfortunately. That $7.85 million will be split from the legal representatives who objected to the deal, then distributed evenly across millions of people’s PSN accounts. It’s hard to say exactly how much that will be, but it’s likely to be quite a few dollars.
I’ll take what I can get. When Will That Cash Come In?
The decision hearing will not take place until the Fairness Hearing, currently scheduled for October 15, 2026. If that is completed, the money may take additional weeks or months to be released.
Class action lawsuits are not very good for consumers most of the time. They certainly don’t tend to be on time. This particular renovation was first planned in December 2024, but two applications for approval were rejected. The language in the agreement originally stated that payments would be distributed after April 1, 2025. As you can see, the wait is not over.
